Berkshire Hathaway vs. S&P 500 Comparison
Berkshire Hathaway has consistently outperformed the S&P 500. Berkshire Hathaway has had a compounded annual gain of 21.4% versus 10.4% for the S&P 500. The cumulative result is a whopping 361,156% gain for Berkshire Hathaway versus 6,479% for the S&P 500 See the complete year-by-year data below.
All of the data is from Berkshire Hathaway's 2006 Chairmans's letter.
These charts tell the story.
Annual Percentage Growth
Value of a dollar invested at the beginning of 1965 (logarithmic scale)
This is a different perspective on the cumulative percentage growth mentioned above.
| Berkshire Hathaway | S&P 500 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 23.8 | 10.0 | 13.8 |
| 1966 | 20.3 | -11.7 | 32.0 |
| 1967 | 11.0 | 30.9 | -19.9 |
| 1968 | 19.0 | 11.0 | 8.0 |
| 1969 | 16.2 | -8.4 | 24.6 |
| 1970 | 12.0 | 3.9 | 8.1 |
| 1971 | 16.4 | 14.6 | 1.8 |
| 1972 | 21.7 | 18.9 | 2.8 |
| 1973 | 4.7 | -14.8 | 19.5 |
| 1974 | 5.5 | -26.4 | 31.9 |
| 1975 | 21.9 | 37.2 | -15.3 |
| 1976 | 59.3 | 23.6 | 35.7 |
| 1977 | 31.9 | -7.4 | 39.3 |
| 1978 | 24.0 | 6.4 | 17.6 |
| 1979 | 35.7 | 18.2 | 17.5 |
| 1980 | 19.3 | 32.3 | -13.0 |
| 1981 | 31.4 | -5.0 | 36.4 |
| 1982 | 40.0 | 21.4 | 18.6 |
| 1983 | 32.3 | 22.4 | 9.9 |
| 1984 | 13.6 | 6.1 | 7.5 |
| 1985 | 48.2 | 31.6 | 16.6 |
| 1986 | 26.1 | 18.6 | 7.5 |
| 1987 | 19.5 | 5.1 | 14.4 |
| 1988 | 20.1 | 16.6 | 3.5 |
| 1989 | 44.4 | 31.7 | 12.7 |
| 1990 | 7.4 | -3.1 | 10.5 |
| 1991 | 39.6 | 30.5 | 9.1 |
| 1992 | 20.3 | 7.6 | 12.7 |
| 1993 | 14.3 | 10.1 | 4.2 |
| 1994 | 13.9 | 1.3 | 12.6 |
| 1995 | 43.1 | 37.6 | 5.5 |
| 1996 | 31.8 | 23.0 | 8.8 |
| 1997 | 34.1 | 33.4 | .7 |
| 1998 | 48.3 | 28.6 | 19.7 |
| 1999 | .5 | 21.0 | -20.5 |
| 2000 | 6.5 | -9.1 | 15.6 |
| 2001 | -6.2 | -11.9 | 5.7 |
| 2002 | 10.0 | -22.1 | 32.1 |
| 2003 | 21.0 | 28.7 | -7.7 |
| 2004 | 10.5 | 10.9 | -.4 |
| 2005 | 6.4 | 4.9 | 1.5 |
| 2006 | 18.4 | 15.8 | 2.6 |
| Compounded Annual Gain 1965-2006 | 21.4% | 10.4% | 11.0 |