Displaying items by tag: buffett

(New York)

There has been a lot of speculation over the last year that FedEx might be a buyout target. This time last year, everyone thought Amazon would buy the logistics company to beef up its own network. That did not happen. Now the speculation is that it might be on Warren Buffett’s list. Buffett has expressed that he is itching to make an “elephant-sized” acquisition, and FedEx fits the bill in more ways than one. Not only is it huge, but it has a more than $125 bn hoard of cash. Buffett likes simple businesses with good management and large moats, or barriers to entry which prevent competition. FedEx fits the bill perfectly.

FINSUM: This feels like a match made in heaven. Both parties refuse to comment. Hmmmm…

(New York)

If you follow Warren Buffett at all, you will know that one of his main investing philosophies is to buy companies with a wide moat, or a major defensive position in their industry which blocks competitors from grabbing market share. It seems second nature to want to invest in such stocks, however, research suggests they may not perform as well as one would think. The reason why is that wide-moat stocks are often very popular, which means they get overpriced as investors pile in. Because of this, companies that consumers love often have returns that lag lesser companies. “Great companies don’t always make great investments”, says the CIO of retirement for Morningstar Investment Management.

FINSUM: This is a really a matter of timing. At some point these popular companies see a big run up in their stock, so it is more a matter of buying them early than saying they underperform.