5 Buffett Companies with Crazy Earnings Growth
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Mr. Buffett is a long term, patient investor so he doesn’t put much weight on quarterly growth but he has to still love seeing his prize companies pumping out more cash than before.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) had quarterly earnings growth of 17%. Wells Fargo offers a wide range of banking and financial services worldwide, including consumer and corporate banking, wealth management and credit cards. Based out of San Francisco in California, it is one of the four largest banks in the United States and operates over 9,000 branches across the globe. Wells Fargo has proven itself to be a decent investment for Buffett, given its performance on the stock market over the past year. Their current overall return for the past 52 weeks is 40%, after seeing fairly steady growth since December of 2011.
Next in line is another financial services company, U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) with a quarterly earnings growth of 17.60%. U.S. Bancorp is also based out of the United States and deal with a wide range of financial services including trust and investment services, insurance, banking and foreign exchange. The parent company of U.S. Bank, U.S. Bancorp was created through the acquisitions of several major banks and is reported to be in the top five largest banks in the United States. U.S. Bancorp has also been a good investment for Buffett. Seeing continued and steady growth since August 2011, U.S. Bancorp has continued to climb in value, with a return of 51% overall for the past 52 weeks.
Not too far ahead of Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp is Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) with a quarterly earnings growth of 19.10%. With their headquarters in the United States, Costco Wholesale Corporation have now grown to do business all across the world, including locations in places like Canada, the UK and Australia, just to name a few. Costco Wholesale Corporation focuses on selling bulk items to members, at low prices and considers themselves a discount store for food and household items. Costco is reported to be in the top 10 largest retailers in the world. Costco Wholesale Corporation has had a few ups and down over the past year in the stock market but have still managed to remain a good investment for Buffett, closing the past 52 weeks with an overall return of 31%.
Kicking it up a serious notch is Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) with quarterly earnings growth of 36.00%. Dollar General is a discount outlet specializing in variety stores that offer both branded and generic goods. Also based out of the United States, Dollar General began as just one store in 1955 and now boasts over 10,000 locations across America, many in communities and regional locations. Dollar General Corporation also created and now carries their own brand of household items called “DG,” and is rumored to be opening a series of new stores throughout the United States. If that wasn’t enough, Dollar General Corporation is also seeing growth in the stock market. Buffett won’t be complaining about this investment, given Dollar General’s current overall return for the past 52 weeks is sitting at 63%.
However, with the most impressive quarterly earnings growth of all five at 49.00% is Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), the multinational oil and gas company. Reported to be the largest corporation in the world when considering revenue, Exxon Mobil Corporation is said to be one of the world’s most hated companies, dealing in fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals, but that doesn’t stop them from making serious cash. Exxon Mobil Corporation employs over 80,000 people worldwide and has revenue in the hundreds of billions. Exxon has seen a couple of short-lived drops through the past year, but is still enjoying an overall return of 23% since August 2011.
With high quarterly earnings growth percentages and great returns for the past 52 weeks, Buffett is no doubt pleased he chose to invest in these five companies. Buffett wants companies that will continually provide a great return on shareholder capital and, therefore, continually increasing income.
mthiessen has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. mthiessen runs a partnership that invests in public and private securities. The Motley Fool owns shares of Costco Wholesale, Wells Fargo & Company, and ExxonMobil and has the following options: short OCT 2012 $33.00 puts on Wells Fargo & Company and short OCT 2012 $36.00 calls on Wells Fargo & Company. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Costco Wholesale and Wells Fargo & Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.If you have questions about this post or the Fool’s blog network, click here for information.
