BRK.A vs. XYZ: Berkshire Hathaway vs. Block Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) and Block (XYZ) both belong to the Financial Services industry, though BRK.A is classified under Multi-Sector Holdings while XYZ falls under Transaction & Payment Processing Services.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Block (XYZ) has a highly aggressive beta of 2.48, 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.

Block (XYZ) trades around 4.73M 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

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 12.12% is around its peer norm for ROE, while Block (XYZ) at 2.02% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker returns on shareholders’ equity.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 22.30% keeps about the industry-typical share of revenue as profit, while Block (XYZ) at 1.80% retains only a bottom-quartile share.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 32.56% runs core operations around its industry’s norm, while Block (XYZ) at 6.65% operates in the bottom quartile.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Both Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at -3.23% and Block (XYZ) at 0.30% post bottom-quartile revenue growth versus peers, pointing to weaker demand or pricing momentum than typical rivals.

Both Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at -24.78% and Block (XYZ) at -53.95% 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 Block (XYZ) 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 Block (XYZ) 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 Block (XYZ) pays a dividend this period — they may reinvest, use buybacks, or simply not return cash through dividends.

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

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 14.36 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Block (XYZ) at 112.47 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for XYZ’s trailing earnings.

On P/S ratio, both Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 3.18 and Block (XYZ) at 2.01 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

On P/B ratio, both Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) at 1.72 and Block (XYZ) at 2.26 are valued close to their industries’ norm against book — neither stands out from peers.

Valuation Metrics