Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) hasn’t given investors much to get excited about this year. While the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has gained about 14% in 2026, shares of Warren Buffett’s former company are up only 3%.
But there’s an interesting argument for owning Berkshire Hathaway that has nothing to do with how the stock is performing today. In fact, it becomes particularly compelling when the rest of the stock market is struggling.
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Consider this: Since 1965, Berkshire Hathaway has outperformed the S&P 500 in 11 of the 13 years when the benchmark index posted a negative annual return.
That’s an outstanding record — and one that investors might want to consider before dismissing Berkshire as a stock that’s lost its momentum.
Berkshire Hathaway has a history of beating during down markets
One of the most interesting features of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder letter is a table comparing the company’s stock performance against the S&P 500, including dividends, dating back to 1965.
The results are remarkable. During that period, Berkshire delivered a compounded annual gain of 19.7%, compared to 10.5% for the S&P 500. That’s the kind of performance that made Buffett one of the greatest investors of all time.
But I was particularly interested in what happened during the years when the stock market declined. The S&P 500 recorded 13 losing years between 1965 and 2025. Berkshire outperformed the index in 11 of them, including several occasions when its stock actually gained value while the broader market declined.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway.
For example, in 2022, the S&P 500 fell 18.1% as inflation and rising interest rates weighed on stocks. Berkshire managed a 4% gain. And during the 2008 financial crisis, the S&P 500 plunged 37%. Berkshire had a bad year as well, falling 31.8%, but shareholders still came out ahead of investors holding the broader index.
The exceptions were 1974 and 1990, when Berkshire suffered steeper losses than the S&P 500. In 1974, Berkshire plunged 48.7%, compared to a 26.4% decline for the index.
