Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod. It also provides AppleCare support and cloud services; and operates various platforms, including the App Store that allow customers to discover and download applications and digital content, such as books, music, video, games, and podcasts. In addition, the company offers various services, such as Apple Arcade, a game subscription service; Apple Fitness+, a personalized fitness service; Apple Music, which offers users a curated listening experience with on-demand radio stations; Apple News+, a subscription news and magazine service; Apple TV+, which offers exclusive original content; Apple Card, a co-branded credit card; and Apple Pay, a cashless payment service, as well as licenses its intellectual property. The company serves consumers, and small and mid-sized businesses; and the education, enterprise, and government markets. It distributes third-party applications for its products through the App Store. The company also sells its products through its retail and online stores, and direct sales force; and third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and resellers. Apple Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Apple remains a high-quality business with very strong profitability, but the market is already pricing in an almost perfect scenario. A P/E of 35.47 and especially a P/S of 10.77, P/B of 46.13, and P/FCF of 33.45 look noticeably above industry benchmarks, which limits the potential for further multiple expansion. At the same time, the dynamics of the multiples themselves do not provide a strong signal of downward revaluation: P/E and P/FCF have fluctuated, while P/S and P/B have gradually risen, suggesting a consistently expensive valuation rather than a clear deterioration in the business. The company’s strength lies in its exceptional operational efficiency: ROE of 137.18, ROA of 34.55, ROI of 76.21, and return on tangible equity of 159.58 are significantly above the industry median. Profit margin of 27.62% and operating margin of 33.17% are also very strong and appear stable over the year, while gross margin of around 48.65% remains at a high and stable level. Revenue, operating profit, and net income continue to be substantial and show no signs of structural weakening, which supports the fundamental resilience of the valuation. The balance sheet is not perfect, however: a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93 are below industry benchmarks, meaning the short-term liquidity buffer is limited. Debt levels look acceptable and are even improving compared with last year: debt/equity has declined to 0.66, and long-term debt is gradually decreasing. The dividend yield of 0.09% is very low and declining, so the dividend factor adds almost no support to the investment case. Overall, the fundamentals point to a strong, mature, and highly profitable company, but one that is already very richly valued on key multiples. For an investor, this means the base outlook should be slightly tempered: the business quality remains outstanding, but the current price already reflects much of that strength.

Apple Inc.

Сильный индекс, значительно упал. Быки в растерянности.

Strong index, significantly down. The bulls are confused.

Сильный индекс, значительно упал. Медведи в растерянности.

Strong index, significantly down. The bears are confused.

Слабый индекс, значительно упал. Рынок не поддерживает быков.

Weak index, significantly down. The market does not support the bulls.

Средний индекс, значительно вырос. Рынок на стороне медведей.

Medium index, significantly up. The market is on the bears' side.

Средний индекс, незначительно вырос. Отток средств из лонгов на высоком уровне.

Medium index, slightly up. Outflow of funds from longs at a high level.

Средний индекс, без изменений. Приток средств в шорты на высоком уровне.

Medium index, flat. Inflow of funds into shorts at a high level.

Strong profitability and sustainable growth at Apple are combined with very expensive valuation multiples and weak dividend support, so the valuation looks slightly overstretched.

Key Points
The growth company behind the world’s most popular smartphone began paying dividends to its shareholders again all the way back in 2012.
These dividend payments, however, aren’t exactly on par with those being made by names better-established as income investments.
Apple serves as a reminder that all investors should clearly define their investing goals and then identify which tickers are best suited to meet those goals in the long run.
There's certainly no denying this technology ticker has been a powerhouse performer for the past couple of decades. And yes, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is technically a dividend-paying stock.
These two details alone, however, don't inherently make this name a well-suited choice for income-seeking investors.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
The numbers
Don't misread the message. Again, Apple pays its shareholders an ever-growing dividend. It's just not a particularly big one. The stock's current forward-looking yield stands at a mere 0.3%. That's not much... only about $1.08 per share. To put those numbers in perspective, to collect just $100 worth of income from a stake in this popular company in a year, you'd need 93 shares of its stock. If you were buying that number at today's price, it would cost you a little over $32,000.
Moreover, even if the company continues raising its dividend at its recent pace, in 10 years that initial $32,000 investment would still only yield annual dividends of just under $160. That translates into opportunity cost with making such a sizable commitment to AAPL as an income investment.
Not suited for this purpose
This doesn't mean Apple is a bad stock pick, to be clear. It's just not a great pick for income investors needing their assets to generate recurring, spendable cash at a reasonable rate of return.
Rather, AAPL remains primarily a growth stock, albeit a good one, boosted by even more generous stock buybacks. The company spent $25.8 billion on repurchases during the quarter ending in June, for perspective, while only $4 billion was spent funding its dividend payments. This dynamic isn't apt to change much under new CEO John Ternus' leadership, either.
So, if you're looking for a solid all-around income investment, look elsewhere, and start your search with stocks that have a higher yield. While a dividend yield at any particular time is far from a stock's whole story, it's certainly an important part of every income investment's profile.
Should you buy stock in Apple right now?
Before you buy stock in Apple, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Apple wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $355,124!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,296,254!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 901% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 24, 2026.
James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Here's How Many Shares of Apple Stock You'd Need for $100 in Yearly Dividends

Key Points
iPhone maker Apple has nearly caught up with Nvidia in terms of market cap.
The two companies’ paths to the next big market cap milestone will be as different as the paths to the $5 trillion mark were.
Although one is more likely than the other to get to a $10 trillion valuation, it’s not necessarily the sort of contest with winners and losers that investors need to worry about.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the first company to reach a $1 trillion market cap, way back in 2018. Thanks to the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence, however, hardware maker Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) became the world's first $5 trillion outfit late last year.
Now Apple's turning heads again. Thanks to its stock's recent gains, it joined the $5 trillion club just last week. Nvidia is still technically bigger, albeit barely, with its current market cap of $5.13 trillion.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
This market cap movement prompts a question: Although it doesn't really matter, which of these two companies is more likely to reach a $10 trillion valuation first? I suspect it's going to be Apple. Here's why.
Apple and Nvidia are not the same
Nvidia is still a fine growth investment. Even if we don't know exactly what the future holds, we can confidently say that computing technology -- including artificial intelligence -- features prominently in it. That bodes well for this tech giant.
There's a reason NVDA shares are priced relatively cheaply at just 14 times next year's expected per-share profit of $15.91, though. That is -- perhaps without even consciously realizing it -- the market is pricing in a headwind for Nvidia's AI business. It may also be factoring in the recent rise of AI computing competitors like Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm. It's a potential problem because data centers alone now account for roughly 90% of Nvidia's revenue.
But isn't Apple an artificial intelligence company too? Not really. While Apple's iPhone and its iOS certainly offer artificial intelligence-based solutions to their users, these are features rather than the crux of these profit centers.
Most iPhone owners -- who consistently account for about half of Apple's sales -- simply prefer this particular smartphone for the overall experience it provides. They loved it well before AI was part of it.
And that's the key to this ticker's market-beating past, present, and projected growth. It's not a hardware company in the same sense that Nvidia provides technology to institutions that perpetually shop for the most bang for their computing buck (so to speak). Rather, Apple is a lifestyle brand that's fostered enormous loyalty from a consumer market that's already more reliable and predictable than the corporate arena.
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reports that 87% of current iPhone owners say their next smartphone purchase will be another iPhone, explaining the ongoing growth in the number of Apple-made devices actively used worldwide. The company reported this figure reached a new record of 2.5 billion early this year.
Knowing the sort of future growth performance they're almost certainly plugging into, investors have also consistently supported a premium valuation for Apple stock.
Not an either/or choice you absolutely must make
It's possible the underlying dynamic here could change in unexpected ways, pushing Nvidia to the $10 trillion mark before Apple gets there. And it doesn't really matter which one reaches the milestone first.
Still, if nothing else, comparing and contrasting what makes these two companies tick is an important thought exercise that helps all investors establish reasonable expectations. Just keep in mind that both stocks can perform more than well enough going forward.
Should you buy stock in Apple right now?
Before you buy stock in Apple, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Apple wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $355,124!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,296,254!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 901% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 24, 2026.
James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Apple Joins Nvidia in the $5 Trillion Club. Here's Which Stock I Think Can Get to $10 Trillion First.

Comparing units outstanding versus one week ago at the coverage universe of ETFs at ETF Channel, the biggest inflow was seen in the Tradr 2X Long SPY Monthly ETF, which added 26,100,000 units, or a 1.3% increase week over week. Among the largest underlying components of SPYM, in morning trading today Nvidia is down about 2.9%, and Apple is relatively unchanged.
And on a percentage change basis, the ETF with the biggest increase in inflows was the COHX ETF, which added 1,810,000 units, for a 38.9% increase in outstanding units.

SPYM, COHX: Big ETF Inflows

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) is up by +0.57% today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) is down by -0.11%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is up +1.52%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ26) are up +0.58%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ26) are up +1.51%.
Stock indexes are mostly higher today, with chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks leading the broader market higher after last week’s selloff. Earnings optimism is lifting stocks ahead of this week's earnings results from Meta Platforms, Tesla, and Netflix. Also, weaker crude oil prices today have improved market sentiment and are supportive of stocks.
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On the downside, homebuilders are under pressure after today’s US economic news showed the Oct NAHB housing market index fell 3 points to a 14-year low of 29, below expectations of 31.
Mostly better-than-expected Chinese economic news is positive for global growth prospects and stocks. China Q3 GDP rose +1.2% q/q and +4.5% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.0% q/q and +4.4% y/y. Also, China's Sep industrial production rose +5.5% y/y, right on expectations and the largest increase in 6 months. In addition, China's Sep retail sales rose +1.1% y/y, stronger than expectations of +0.5% y/y and the largest increase in 6 months. Finally, China's Sep surveyed jobless rate unexpectedly fell -0.1 to 5.2%, below the expected 5.3% and signaling a stronger labor market. On the downside, China's Sep new home prices fell -0.14% m/m, the fortieth consecutive month of declines.
Stocks have support from the prospect of solid quarterly earnings results. According to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence, Q3 S&P 500 earnings are expected to climb by +25% from a year earlier, up from a July estimate of 22%. As of today, 45 of the S&P 500 companies have reported results, with 80% beating estimates.
Nov WTI crude oil prices (CLX26) are moving lower today on some profit-taking after last week's rally to a 5-week high. US Energy Secretary Wright said Persian Gulf oil flows have recovered to about 80% of their pre-war level, though refined-product shipments remain constrained. Crude oil prices have underlying support from concerns about disruptions to Middle Eastern energy supplies after Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, a significant Red Sea port for Saudi oil exports that avoids the Strait of Hormuz, with missiles and drones. Also, the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that two tankers were attacked in the Persian Gulf near Saudi Arabia's port city of Jubail over the weekend.
Markets are discounting a 17% chance of a +25 bp Fed rate hike at the next FOMC meeting on October 27-28.
Overseas stock markets are mixed today. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell to a 1-week low today and is down -1.18%. China's Shanghai Composite closed up +0.39%. Japan's Nikkei-225 Stock Average fell to a 1-month low and closed down -0.62%.
Interest Rates
December 10-year T-notes (ZNZ6) are down -4 ticks. The 10-year T-note yield is up +3.2 bp to 5.127%. Today’s stock rally has reduced safe-haven demand for government debt, weighing on T-notes. Losses in T-notes are limited amid some safe-haven buying due to the social unrest in France. Weaker WTI crude oil prices today are also lowering inflation expectations and supporting T-notes.
European government bond yields are moving higher today. The 10-year German bund yield is up +3.6 bp to 3.462%. The 10-year UK gilt yield is up +5.7 bp to 5.430%.
The German Bundesbank said in a report today that "inflation risks in the Eurozone are clearly tilted to the upside."
Markets are discounting an 8% chance of a +25 bp ECB rate hike at the ECB’s next meeting on October 29.
US Stock Movers
Chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks are moving higher today, recovering some of last week’s rout. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is up more than +2%. SanDisk (SNDK) is up more than +6% to lead gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, and Western Digital (WDC) is up more than +6%. Also, Marvell Technology (MRVL) is up more than +5%, and Intel (INTC), Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX), Lam Research (LRCX), and Micron Technology (MU) are up more than +4%. In addition, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Applied Materials (AMAT) are up more than +3%, and Analog Devices (ADI), KLA Corp (KLAC), Broadcom (AVGO), and Qualcomm (QCOM) are up more than +2%.
The Magnificent Seven stocks, excluding Meta, are up today, supporting broader market gains. Amazon.com (AMZN) is up more than +4% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones Industrials, and Tesla (TSLA) is up more than +3%. Also, Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) are up more than +1%. In addition, Apple (AAPL) is up +0.14%. Conversely, Meta Platforms (META) is down -0.87%.
Cloud infrastructure stocks are climbing today. Applied Digital (APLD) is up more than +8%, and Nebius Group NV (NBIS) and Lumentum Holdings (LITE) are up more than +3%. Also, CoreWeave (CRWV) and Arista Networks (ANET) aew up more than +2%, and Oracle (ORCL) is up more than +1%.
Home builders and building supplies are slipping today after the US Oct NAHB housing market index fell more than expected to a 14-year low. DR Horton (DHI) and Pulte Group (PHM) are down more than -2%, and Lennar (LEN), KB Home (KBH), Toll Brothers (TOL), and Builders Firstsource (BLDR) are down more than -1%.
Disc Medicine (IRON) is up more than +39% after announcing that its investigational drug bitopertin met all primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 Apollo trial in adults and adolescents with erythropoietic protoporphyria.
Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) is up more than +13% after reporting Q3 adjusted Ebitda of $612 million, above the consensus of $591.5 million.
Datadog (DDOG) is up more than +5% after Bernstein upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform with a price target of $350.
NRG Energy (NRG) is down more than -5% to lead losers in the S&P 500 after Jeffries cut its price target on the stock to $131 from $160.
Ameriprise Financial (AMP) is down more than -3% after Bank of America Global Research double-downgraded the stock to underperform from buy with a price target of $445.
Earnings Reports (10/19/2026)
AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC), BOK Financial Corp (BOKF), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF), Crown Holdings Inc (CCK), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), FNB Corp/PA (FNB), RLI Corp (RLI), Steel Dynamics Inc (STLD), W R Berkley Corp (WRB), Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL), Wintrust Financial Corp (WTFC), Zions Bancorp NA (ZION).
On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

Strength in Chipmakers and AI-Infrastructure Stocks Lead the Broader Market Higher

Key Points
Nvidia is the cheaper stock and has been growing more quickly.
Apple has a great compounding business model and is the safer of the two stocks.
Only two companies in the world have ever reached a $5 trillion market cap: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). To reach those heights, both are obviously great companies, but which stock looks like the better long-term buy?
In my view, Nvidia has more upside, but it also carries more risk than owning Apple. Let's dig into the two tech stocks.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Nvidia has shown some of the best growth among megacap tech companies over the past five years. In its fiscal year 2023 (ending January), it recorded nearly $27 billion in revenue, while this year (fiscal 2027), analysts project it will generate nearly $412 billion in revenue. That's an astonishing 15-fold increase over five years off a high base. Incredibly, the company has forecast that it will grow its revenue by another 70% next fiscal year.
Nvidia's growth is coming from the insatiable demand for compute power associated with the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure build-out. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are the main chips used to run AI workloads, and it has created a wide moat for AI model training through its CUDA software platform, where most original AI code was written.
Meanwhile, Nvidia has positioned itself well for the next phases of AI. The inference market is now growing faster than the one for training and is expected to become the much larger market of the two. On this end, the company made a smart move when it "acquired" Groq and its language processing unit (LPU) technology earlier this year. Groq's SRAM-based (static random-access memory) chips are great for speeding up the decode phase of inference, where models give their response to queries, while its GPUs can be used for the more compute-heavy prefill phase. At the same time, Nvidia has developed its own Arm-based central processing units (CPUs), which are becoming more important with the rise of agentic AI.
Combined with its world-class networking portfolio, Nvidia now offers complete turnkey AI factories specifically designed to handle different AI tasks, like training, inference, and AI agents. This should be the company's next big growth driver.
Apple does not have nearly the type of revenue growth that Nvidia has; however, it does have a very sticky business that compounds tremendously over time. This can be seen in its earnings-per-share (EPS) growth over the past five years, which has gone from $6.11 back in fiscal 2022 to a projected $8.83 this fiscal year, representing 45% growth, on only a 21% increase in revenue over the same stretch.
The iPhone remains the company's most important product, making up around half its overall revenue and approximately 70% of its product revenue. Smartphones and its other devices have pretty typical replacement cycles, which give it a recurring type of revenue stream on the hardware side of its business. Meanwhile, the company has an opportunity to ramp up its device sales with the recent launch of its higher-priced foldable iPhone.
The real beauty of Apple's business, though, is that it attracts an affluent customer base that it locks into its sticky ecosystem. Once consumers buy Apple devices, they tend to stay loyal to the brand and generate high-margin service revenue for the company. This includes things like its revenue-sharing deal with Alphabet for Google Search to be the default search engine on its devices, selling cloud storage, taking commissions on apps and subscriptions, and getting a small cut on transactions paid through Apple Pay.
The better stock to own
Nvidia is the cheaper stock and has more growth potential, giving it higher upside. The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.5 times fiscal 2028 (ending January 2028) estimates versus 36 times for Apple's fiscal 2027 (ending November 2027). Apple, meanwhile, is projected to be a mid-teens EPS grower, while Nvidia is projected to grow its EPS at a much higher percentage over the next few years.
That makes Nvidia the better buy in my book. However, it does carry more risk, and if there is a big slowdown in the AI infrastructure build-out, it will be one of the AI stocks most exposed to the fallout.
We just issued 'double down' alerts on 3 stocks — find out if Apple made our list
Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.
On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:
Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you’d have $556,694!*
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Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join Stock Advisor, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 18, 2026.
Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Arm Holdings, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The $5 Trillion Club: Which Is the Better Stock to Own, Apple or Nvidia?

Key Points
The S&P 500 has consistently outperformed most stocks and actively managed funds.
It’s still a safe place to park any cash you don’t need right away.
The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has generated an average annual total return of about 10% since its inception in 1957. However, the index has also gone through some wild swings over the past seven decades -- and those downturns shook out many long-term investors.
Over the past 12 months, the S&P 500 has risen 15% and trades just 2% below its all-time high. It also trades at 21 times forward earnings, compared to its average forward multiple of 17 for the past 25 years. Those numbers suggest it might not be the best time to invest in the S&P 500 via an exchange-traded fund (ETF) such as Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
However, the S&P 500 has also consistently rewarded investors who simply tuned out the near-term noise, stayed invested through downturns, and focused on the long-term gains. So should you invest in the S&P 500 today, even though it looks historically expensive?
Why is the S&P 500 such a resilient investment?
The S&P 500 includes the 500 largest companies in the United States. To join that elite club, they must have a market cap of at least $22.7 billion, have been profitable for at least the past four quarters, and have adequate liquidity and trading volume.
A company can't join the index until 12 months after its IPO, and at least 10% of its shares must be publicly traded. It also excludes certain companies -- including master limited partnerships (MLPs), business development companies (BDCs), and closed-end funds (CEFs) -- which don't issue common stock.
The S&P 500 rebalances itself quarterly to add rising stars and prune its laggards, and adjusts their weights based on their market caps. Over the long term, most actively managed funds struggle to outperform the S&P 500's automated indexing strategy.
That's why Vanguard's founder, John Bogle, advised investors to simply "buy the haystack" instead of searching for individual needles. Today, the S&P 500's biggest components include Nvidia (8.4% of the index), Apple (7.4%), Microsoft (5.8%), Amazon (3.7%), and Alphabet (3.1%). That makes it an easy way to gain instant exposure to the country's top companies without having to do too much homework on each stock.
But is there a "right" time to invest in the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 is a balanced investment for long-term investors, but they must be able to withstand double-digit drawdowns without panicking. Over the past two decades, the S&P 500 experienced peak-to-trough declines of 57% from Oct. 2007 to March 2009, 34% from Feb. to March 2020, and 25% from Jan. 2022 to Oct. 2022.
However, the S&P 500 has generated a total return of 686% (including reinvested dividends) since its first trading day in 2007, and a total return of 162% since the first day of 2020. Even if you had invested in VOO on Jan. 3, 2022 -- the day the S&P 500 peaked before the Fed's interest rate hikes crashed the market throughout most of the year -- you'd still be sitting on a total return of 71%. Therefore, investors who sold their stocks during the nadir of each of those downturns are probably kicking themselves for leaving so much money on the table.
So if you plan to stay invested for at least a few more years, you shouldn't worry about timing the perfect entry point. Instead, it's smart to start a position in the S&P 500 today, commit to investing more every month, and let dollar-cost averaging smooth out your long-term gains.
Should you buy stock in S&P 500 Index right now?
Before you buy stock in S&P 500 Index, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and S&P 500 Index wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $380,363!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,315,732!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 919% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 18, 2026.
Leo Sun has positions in Amazon and Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Should You Invest in the S&P 500 Right Now or Wait? There's 1 Clear Answer

Key Points
The Solana blockchain generated more fees than any other last month, showing that people are paying to use its ecosystem.
Solana is taking market share in the stablecoin and real-world asset tokenization space.
Crypto prices are starting to recover after a year-long slump, and analysts -- some of whom make a living out of predicting the crypto weather -- think the clouds may finally be clearing.
The lead crypto Bitcoin has soared 28% in the past three months as of Oct. 16. Its cousin, Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), gained 40% over the same period, but the popular altcoin is still trading 65% below last year's all-time high.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
When an asset has fallen so dramatically, it's important to understand why and ask whether it still has legs. In Solana's case, the abysmal price performance does not reflect its ecosystem growth, transaction revenues, or evolving role in stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization, which are key long-term drivers for blockchain usage. That makes it an interesting prospect at its current price of around $105.
Solana's thriving ecosystem
Solana's most-talked-about quality is its speed. It is significantly faster than Ethereum and, in theory, can rival Visa in terms of transactions processed per second.
But I'm more excited about another metric: on-chain fees.
Why? Because it shows that people are paying to use Solana's blockchain. At the time of this writing, Solana had generated more fees than any other chain in the past 30 days. Solana's low fees make soaring revenue a clear sign of very high transaction volumes.
Blockchain
Fees in the past 30 days
Solana
$28.1 million
Tron
$23.9 million
Ethereum
$18.31 million
Another sign of Solana's strong use case is that established businesses are using it. For example, Samsung recently announced Solana would be one of its partners as it rolled out USDC stablecoin access through its Samsung Wallet.
Solana still doesn't hold a torch to leader Ethereum in terms of the amount of stablecoins on its chain, but its stablecoin issuance is growing -- it recently hit an all-time high of $16.5 billion.
Solana is also a key player in real-world asset tokenization -- using blockchain tokens to represent ownership of assets such as equities or bonds. It ranks third by total value of tokenized assets on its chain. This month, stock tokenization veteran Securitize rolled out Securitize Stocks on Solana with tokenized versions of 12 U.S. megacap stocks.
In short, the crypto price slump has not stopped Solana's growth. However, success is not guaranteed. Not only is Solana susceptible to the ebbs and flows of crypto sentiment, but its 2025 high was also driven by a spike in meme coin activity, the likes of which we may not see again. Unlike Bitcoin, which has gained some traction as a form of digital gold, Solana's growth depends on adoption and, as with any emerging technology, it isn't yet clear how this will evolve.
Solana could be too cheap to ignore
If you invest in stocks, there are vast swathes of ground between giants like Nvidia or Apple and penny stocks. That doesn't apply to cryptocurrency investing -- you only have to take a few steps down the top assets by market cap to reach extremely speculative and risky investments.
Solana is in a sweet spot: It's still risky, but the token also has a strong use case and more growth potential than Bitcoin. As a standout programmable crypto with a thriving ecosystem, Solana is worth a closer look for crypto investors willing to take on some risk.
Should you buy stock in Solana right now?
Before you buy stock in Solana, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Solana wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $380,363!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,315,732!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 919% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 18, 2026.
Emma Newbery has positions in Apple, Ethereum, Nvidia, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Nvidia, Solana, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, VA., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community. Reaching millions of people each month through its website, books, newspaper column, radio show, television appearances, and subscription newsletter services, The Motley Fool champions shareholder values and advocates tirelessly for the individual investor. The company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Is Solana Too Cheap to Ignore at Today's Prices?

Key Points
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) has delivered impressive annualized returns of 24.7% for the past 10 years, outperforming the high-flying Nasdaq-100 index.
VGT does not own certain well-known tech names because of their sector classification.
Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Broadcom are four of the five largest holdings in VGT, making up about 49% of the fund’s assets.
When investing in tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sometimes it's a good idea to peek under the hood and see what you're really buying within each fund's portfolio. Sometimes there is a lot of overlap from one tech ETF to another. This can make it easier to choose the best tech ETF for your goals, based on which fund holds which mix of stocks and sectors.
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) is a popular tech fund that holds 318 stocks. It represents a wide range of companies in the electronics and computer industries, including semiconductors, software, hardware, and tech-related services and components. And VGT is a passive index fund, so it doesn't pick stocks -- it just tracks the performance of its tech sector benchmark.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
When you buy VGT, you're going to get a strong concentration of major tech names that are also top holdings in the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq-100 index. But how much of VGT is just a few major tech stocks that you can buy in other ETFs?
A large percentage of assets of the Vanguard Information Technology ETF is made up of only four big-name tech tickers: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). As of Sept. 30, those four stocks represented about 49% of the VGT fund's assets.
If you feel like VGT is getting too top-heavy with just these four tech names, or you want to own a different mix of stocks, this could affect your investment choices. Let's take a closer look at VGT and its concentration of tech majors NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO.
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT): 22 years of 15% annualized returns
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF has delivered strong returns for investors, with average annual returns of 15.03% since the fund's inception in January 2004. It's done even better in the past few years, with about 24.7% annualized returns in the past 10 years, 20.9% in the past five years, 35% in the past three years, and about 35.2% in the past year.
Unlike many popular tech ETFs, VGT is somewhat unique for some of the well-known "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks that it does not own. For example, the VGT fund does not hold Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, or Tesla. That's because although these companies are frequently described as "tech stocks," they are not technically part of the information technology sector as defined by the MSCI US IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index, which is the benchmark that VGT follows.
But the mix of growth stocks in VGT has been pretty successful. VGT has strongly outperformed the Nasdaq-100 during the past 10 years.
VGT: Concentration of NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO (49% of the fund)
The U.S. stock market has become top-heavy with tech stocks in recent years due to major gains from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF is no exception to that trend. But if you're concerned about making too concentrated an investment in just four stocks, this could be worth paying attention to.
Let's look at the top holdings and weights of VGT and see how they compare to typical S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 index funds.
Stock ETF:
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT)
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
Invesco Nasdaq-100 ETF (QQQM)
Top 10 stock holdings by weight (% of fund)
1. Nvidia: 17.6%
2. Apple: 15.9%
3. Microsoft: 11.2%
4. Micron: 4.45%
5. Broadcom: 4.1%
6. Advanced Micro Devices: 3.7%
7. Intel: 1.98%
8. Cisco: 1.6%
9. Lam Research Group: 1.55%
10. Palantir: 1.55%
(as of Sept. 30)
1. Nvidia: 8.4%
2. Apple: 7.4%
3. Microsoft: 5.8%
4. Alphabet: 5.5% (Class A and Class C shares, combined)
5. Amazon: 3.7%
6. Broadcom: 2.5%
7. Meta Platforms: 2.4%
8. Micron: 1.8%
9. Tesla: 1.5%
10. Advanced Micro Devices: 1.5%
(as of Sept. 30)
1. Nvidia: 8.2%
2. Apple: 7.7%
3. Microsoft: 6.10%
4. Alphabet: 6.06 (Class A and Class C shares, combined)
5. Micron: 4.4%
6. Amazon: 4.2%
7. Advanced Micro Devices: 3.96%
8. Meta Platforms: 3.4%
9. Tesla: 2.97%
10. Space Exploration Technologies: 2.8%
11. Broadcom: 2.54%
(as of Oct. 14)
Combined weight of NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO
48.8%
24.1%
24.5%
Expense ratio
0.09%
0.03%
0.15%
Who this fund is good for:
Investors who want a tech ETF that has beaten the Nasdaq-100 for 10 years -- although it's more concentrated in these four stocks.
Investors who want to own the S&P 500 index of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. -- including non-tech stocks.
Investors who want to own a tech-heavy ETF of the 100 largest non-financial stocks in the Nasdaq, including some stocks that VGT doesn't own.
If you like the mix of stocks in the Vanguard Information Technology ETF and you're impressed by its long-term track record of beating the Nasdaq-100 index, then VGT could be a good choice. But if you're concerned that VGT is too concentrated in just four stocks (NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO), you could own those four stocks with broader diversification just by buying an S&P 500 ETF or a Nasdaq-100 ETF.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 14x Bigger
Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005.
But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout, a massive technology build-out that Google’s CEO says could be more profound than fire or electricity.
While everyone watches the chip designers, one "backbone" company provides the critical technology that Nvidia and AMD literally cannot function without. We’ve detailed this under-the-radar player in our new AI Playbook.
Ben Gran has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Intel, Lam Research, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Tesla, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Own VGT? Here's How Much of It Is Really Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Broadcom.

AGI Is Almost Ready. Is Your Portfolio?
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
When Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang posted on X in September that “AGI has arrived,” it raised many eyebrows across the markets. Now, as the man selling the robots that he claims have surpassed human intelligence, he certainly has a vested interest in declaring this milestone. But what is artificial general intelligence (AGI), and why does it matter to investors?
You should count yourself an interested party if you own any of the Magnificent 7 stocks, or companies that do business with those giants. Or even if you simply work for a living. You have a stake in whether AGI is on its way.
In plain English, AGI is artificial intelligence that’s as capable as a skilled worker at most jobs.
Today’s AI models may be decent coders or data analysts, but they can’t work for long stretches without supervision or pick up new skills as they go. AGI, however, could theoretically replace one of your co-workers, or you.
For companies building AI, a more practical question is when AGI starts making money, so some measure the milestone in dollars. Huang, for instance, told podcaster Lex Fridman in March that true AGI would be capable of building a billion-dollar company (a bar he believes today’s AI clears).
Let’s look at how researchers define the stages along the way to AGI and beyond.
Level
What It Can Do
Where We Are
1. Narrow AI
Specializes in a specific task (chess, spam filters)
Already built and widely used
2. Generative AI
Writes, codes, and more, but needs a human to check its work
Today’s chatbots, such as Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT
3. Artificial general intelligence
Does most work a capable human can, unsupervised
Achieved according to Huang, disputed by many researchers
4. Artificial super intelligence
Beats the best humans at nearly everything
Hypothetical
Today’s best models are on that second rung, mostly because of the supervision problem mentioned above. Research group METR found that the longer the task, the worse AI does; and when left alone on a job that would take a person two workdays, top models succeed only about half the time. That’s unreliable enough that your co-worker’s desk remains occupied, for now.
GPT-6, the model Huang praised, is too new to have undergone METR’s testing, so its reliability for long tasks is unproved. That leaves the open question of how close we are to AGI. You’ll notice each tech leader’s view tends to align with what’s best for their business.
How Close Are We?
It depends on whom you ask.
ALREADY HERE
Huang has declared AGI’s arrival twice this year, first on a March podcast and again in his September post about GPT-6. Of the seven leaders on this list, he’s the only one who says the threshold is already behind us.
NEXT MODEL
Musk keeps setting deadlines for AGI, and he keeps missing them. He predicted in 2024 that AGI would arrive by 2025, then pushed his forecast to 2026. He now says xAI’s next major model, Grok 5, will be the one to reach it.
BY DECEMBER
Sam Altman, OpenAI
Huang called OpenAI’s new model AGI, but OpenAI’s own CEO hasn’t gone that far. A week before GPT-6 launched, Altman told Time that OpenAI was “not quite yet” there, though he expects an internal system he would call AGI by year-end. His chief research officer puts the company “80% of the way” to AGI.
IN SIGHT
Zuckerberg rarely discusses AGI. He skipped straight to “superintelligence,” or ASI, and Meta’s annual report now lists delivering “personal superintelligence for everyone” as part of its vision. In a July 2025 letter, he wrote that Meta had “begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves.”
EARLY 2030s
Pichai expects AGI shortly after 2030. Until then, he says, we’re in an era of “artificial jagged intelligence,” where models solve advanced coding and science problems yet stumble over tasks a child could handle. His caution hasn’t slowed Alphabet’s spending, though, since he told investors in July that competing at the frontier of AGI development is the company’s first priority.
PROOF FIRST
Jassy hasn’t put a date on AGI, and Amazon’s AGI chief, Peter DeSantis, said in June that models need to be about 100 times more efficient before AI comes close. So Amazon makes sure it already has committed contracts for much of the new capacity it builds. AWS customers have signed $496 billion in contracts for future services, meaning they’ve committed to spending more than twice what Amazon itself is spending this year.
WRONG QUESTION
Satya Nadella, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Nadella, the group’s contrarian, described companies announcing their own AGI milestones as “nonsensical benchmark hacking” and believes AI should be measured by its ability to drive economic growth. He also cautioned that AI models are getting commoditized, so most of AI’s profits will go to companies selling the software and cloud platforms that businesses run AI on. That view happens to serve Microsoft, which owns Windows, Office, and Azure.
Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) leaders have said little about AGI, figuring that however smart AI gets, it will need a place to live ... and Apple already owns that real estate, in more than a billion pockets.
Setting CEOs’ incentives aside, the model that set off this debate offers evidence for both camps. Here’s how GPT-6 Astra, the OpenAI release behind Huang’s post, stacks up.
Signs AGI is close
Reasons for doubt
Astra can control computer systems on its own, from spreadsheets to full websites
When Astra doesn’t know an answer, it makes one up about half the time instead of admitting it, per evaluator Artificial Analysis
Astra scored 98% on FrontierMath Tier 4, a set of research-level math problems
Independent testing found Astra only tied Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5.1 on overall intelligence
Regardless of a consensus around whether AGI is here or not, what’s inarguable is that the gap between AI and AGI is shrinking with every new model release. For investors, the bigger opportunity is who profits on the way to AGI.
Who Cashes In on AGI
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) estimates the biggest cloud companies will spend about 93% of operating cash flow on AI this year, up from 33% in 2023. Alphabet even announced plans in June to sell up to $84.75 billion of new stock to help fund its build-out.
If AGI shows up sooner rather than later, these companies could earn back their spending many times over. But if progress stalls, the industry could end up with far more data centers than it can fill.
Meanwhile, these companies are especially well-positioned to benefit from all that spending.
Nvidia: At the risk of stating the obvious, Nvidia’s chips run a large share of the world’s AI data centers. Last quarter, its sales more than doubled to $96.2 billion. Management expects about 90% growth this quarter, yet Nvidia still can’t make chips fast enough to meet demand. Every step closer to AGI means labs need more computing power, and Nvidia is the company selling that horsepower.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO): Broadcom designs custom AI chips for Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI, all of whom want cheaper alternatives to Nvidia’s pricey GPUs. Its AI chip sales more than tripled last quarter to $16.7 billion, and management expects AI revenue to roughly double to about $115 billion next fiscal year. That Broadcom and Nvidia both more than doubled AI sales suggests demand can support multiple winners.
Alphabet: Alphabet develops frontier AI models of its own while renting computing power to peers building theirs. That rental business is booming, as Google Cloud revenue grew 82% last quarter to $24.8 billion. Its cloud backlog, which counts work customers have committed to but Alphabet hasn’t delivered yet, reached $514 billion, and just over half of it should turn into revenue within two years.
Big tech is increasingly borrowing to fund its AI build-out, and lenders have started charging more for that debt. Alphabet spent more cash than it brought in last quarter, which hadn’t happened since it went public in 2004. If any major spender decided to slow its build-out, all three of these companies would likely feel it at once.
The Bottom Line
While we wait for AGI to arrive, investors can prepare.
Know your exposure: The Magnificent 7 make up roughly a third of the S&P 500, so an index fund already ties a big share of your money to the AI build-out. Add in any other tech stocks you own, and your stake is likely bigger than you think.
Favor companies with paying customers: Look for AI businesses with rising sales and signed contracts (e.g., Google Cloud’s $514 billion backlog) over companies counting on a breakthrough years from now.
Think in years: If AGI is a decade out, there’s no rush to buy everything at once. Dollar-cost averaging lowers the risk of buying at a peak.
When AGI arrives, you won’t need to hear it from the man selling robots, since it’ll be written all over the economy and in your portfolios.
What’s one stock you’re holding on the belief that AGI will transform the markets?
Share with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again
In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. If you’d invested $5,000 then, you’d be sitting on $2,783,470 today.*
Now, for the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. It’s a key player in the $1.8 trillion space race, and with the stock recently sitting 20% off its highs, the window to get in early is closing fast.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 18, 2026.
JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, JPMorgan Chase, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, VA., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community. Reaching millions of people each month through its website, books, newspaper column, radio show, television appearances, and subscription newsletter services, The Motley Fool champions shareholder values and advocates tirelessly for the individual investor. The company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Breakfast News: The Sunday Edition

Key Points
Berkshire's investment strategy was made famous under the leadership of Warren Buffett.
Buffett has retired, but Berkshire continues to follow his playbook.
Even after June's spending, Berkshire ended June with more than $359 billion in cash and short-term investments.
When Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB), there were a lot of eyes on his successor, Greg Abel. Would Buffett's replacement follow the Oracle of Omaha's approach to buying stocks?
Less than a year into Abel's tenure, we're getting an answer. Berkshire went on a buying spree during the second quarter, adding to its positions in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL). And another purchase stood out -- $4.5 billion of Berkshire Hathaway's own stock.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Here's what that means for investors.
Berkshire is putting its cash to work
For years, Buffett accumulated an enormous cash reserve at Berkshire Hathaway, preferring to wait for attractive investment opportunities rather than overpay for stocks.
That approach helped Berkshire build a reputation for finding companies with strong competitive advantages and buying their shares when they traded below their intrinsic value -- what the underlying business is actually worth.
Abel appears to be following that philosophy, although he's becoming more aggressive about putting Berkshire's money to work.
During the second quarter, Berkshire increased its Alphabet holdings substantially, adding millions of shares of the Google parent company. It also bought an additional 17.5 million shares of Delta, increasing its stake by 44%. Berkshire opened a position in Delta during the first quarter -- Abel's first as CEO -- and now has more than 57 million shares of Delta stock.
Berkshire ended June with approximately $359.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. Even after its recent purchases, Abel has plenty of money available for additional investments.
Why Berkshire's buybacks matter
Berkshire Hathaway spent approximately $235 million buying back shares during the first quarter, then increased that amount to $4.5 billion in the second quarter.
Berkshire has a specific rule governing repurchases. According to its second-quarter regulatory filing, the company can buy back shares only when its CEO determines that the price is below Berkshire's conservatively estimated intrinsic value. So, Abel isn't buying Berkshire shares simply because the company has money available. He's buying because he believes the stock offers value.
Berkshire purchased Class B shares at an average price of $476.01 in May and $487.98 in June. Those figures give investors something useful -- actual prices at which Berkshire's leadership was willing to invest billions of dollars in its own business.
Should you buy Berkshire Hathaway stock, too?
One of Berkshire Hathaway's strengths is that it's a conglomerate -- the company owns dozens of businesses, including insurance companies, consumer goods such as Duracell, and iconic brands like Dairy Queen. It also has a huge investment portfolio, with large stakes in blue chip companies like Apple and Bank of America. That means it has exposure to several different parts of the economy.
For investors considering Berkshire Hathaway, the company's recent repurchases provide a useful starting point for evaluating the stock.
After all, when Berkshire's own management is willing to spend billions buying its shares, that's worth a closer look.
Should you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway right now?
Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $380,363!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,315,732!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 919% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 17, 2026.
Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends Delta Air Lines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Greg Abel Made Major Additions to Alphabet and Delta Last Quarter While Berkshire Bought Back $4.4 Billion of Its Own Stock. Is This a Buying Signal Investors Should Watch?

Indicator	Mar 26	May 26	Jun 26	Jul 26	Oct 26	TTM	Median
P/E	30.67	35.46	33.19	35.47	—	35.47	33.34
Price/Sales	8.34	9.61	9.17	9.80	10.77	10.77	2.86
P/B	34.89	—	39.28	41.97	46.13	46.13	3.01
P/FCF	29.08	33.83	31.33	33.45	—	33.45	23.04

Indicator	Mar 26	May 26	Jun 26	Jul 26	Oct 26	TTM	Median
EPS	—	2.01	1.91	1.91	—	1.91	0.36
EPS Forecast	—	1.92	1.88	1.88	—	1.88	0.25
Revenue	111.18B	—	109.42B	—	—	109.42B	66.00M
Gross Profit	54.78B	—	54.77B	—	—	54.77B	—
EBITDA	39.32B	—	39.02B	—	—	39.02B	—

Apple Inc.

Recent quarterly and TTM performance

Valuation

Debts

Efficiency

Other ratios

Revenue

Indicator	Mar 26	May 26	Jun 26	Jul 26	Oct 26	TTM	Median
ROE	146.69	—	137.18	—	—	137.18	14.14
ROA	34.02	—	34.55	—	—	34.55	6.67
ROI	75.89	—	76.21	—	—	76.21	10.08
Net Worth	3.73K	4.15K	4.25K	4.55K	5.00K	5.00K	1.02
Quick Ratio	1.02	—	0.93	—	—	0.93	1.59
Current Ratio	1.07	—	1.00	—	—	1.00	1.86

Indicator	Mar 26	May 26	Jun 26	Jul 26	Oct 26	TTM	Median
Net Profit Margin	27.15	—	27.62	—	—	27.62	10.12
Operating Margin	32.64	—	33.17	—	—	33.17	10.80
Gross Margin	47.86	—	48.65	—	—	48.65	50.00
Return on tangible equity	162.45	—	159.58	—	—	159.58	26.05