ARES vs. BRK.A: Ares Management vs. Berkshire Hathaway Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Ares Management (ARES) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) both fall under the Financial Services industry group, but ARES is classified in Capital Markets while BRK.A is classified in Financial Services.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Ares Management (ARES) has an aggressive beta of 1.45, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is defensive at 0.56 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Ares Management (ARES) trades around 2.20M shares per day on average, while Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) sees only 206 — a volume gap that can matter for position sizing, exit liquidity, and order execution.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) earns 12.12% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; Ares Management (ARES) has no ROE this period.

Both Ares Management (ARES) at 8.69% and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 22.30% keep about the typical share of revenue as profit for their industries — neither bottom line stands out from peers.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 32.56% runs core operations around its industry’s norm, while Ares Management (ARES) at 2.89% operates in the bottom quartile.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Ares Management (ARES) at 44.19% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at -3.23% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in revenue momentum.

Ares Management (ARES) at -16.67% is around its peer norm for EPS growth, while Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at -24.78% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker earnings momentum.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Ares Management (ARES) in Financial Services and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) in Financial Services both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Ares Management (ARES) in Financial Services and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) in Financial Services run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Ares Management (ARES) reports a yield of 3.87%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Ares Management (ARES) reports payout ratio above 100% at 423.77%, meaning dividends exceeded current-period earnings; Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%).

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 14.36 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Ares Management (ARES) at 109.82 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for ARES’s trailing earnings.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 3.18 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Ares Management (ARES) at 8.92 sits in the pricier quartile — ARES costs more per dollar of sales.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 1.72 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Ares Management (ARES) at 12.15 prices above its benchmark range — ARES looks rich relative to book.

Valuation Metrics