BRK.A vs. COIN: Berkshire Hathaway vs. Coinbase Global Stock Comparison

Company Profile

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

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has more than two decades of public-market history since March 17, 1980, whereas Coinbase Global (COIN) listed on April 14, 2021 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Coinbase Global (COIN) has a highly aggressive beta of 3.33, indicating much higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is defensive at 0.56 and tends to be less market-sensitive — a wide gap in beta profiles.

Coinbase Global (COIN) trades around 9.25M 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

Coinbase Global (COIN) reports a negative ROE of -4.68%; negative ROE can reflect losses or negative shareholders’ equity, so it is harder to read as capital efficiency. Meanwhile Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) reports 12.12%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Coinbase Global (COIN) reports a negative net margin of -12.89%, usually indicating a net loss over the period. Meanwhile Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) reports 22.30%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Coinbase Global (COIN) reports a negative operating margin of -1.42%, usually indicating that operating costs exceeded revenue at the operating-income line. Meanwhile Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) reports 32.56%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Coinbase Global (COIN) at 9.40% is around its peer norm for revenue growth, while Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at -3.23% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker demand or pricing momentum.

Both Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at -24.78% and Coinbase Global (COIN) at -53.06% post bottom-quartile EPS growth versus peers, pointing to weaker earnings momentum than typical rivals.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) in Financial Services and Coinbase Global (COIN) 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: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) in Financial Services and Coinbase Global (COIN) 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

Neither Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) nor Coinbase Global (COIN) pays a dividend this period — they may reinvest, use buybacks, or simply not return cash through dividends.

Neither Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) nor Coinbase Global (COIN) pays a dividend this period — they may reinvest, use buybacks, or simply not return cash through dividends.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

An earnings multiple is available for just one side: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) trades at 14.36 times trailing earnings, ranked against its peers, while Coinbase Global (COIN) has no P/E ratio this period.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 3.18 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Coinbase Global (COIN) at 6.56 sits in the pricier quartile — COIN costs more per dollar of sales.

On P/B ratio, both Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 1.72 and Coinbase Global (COIN) at 2.56 are valued close to their industries’ norm against book — neither stands out from peers.

Valuation Metrics