This week marks the first time for many decades that Warren Buffett has not been in the boss’s chair at Berkshire Hathaway.
The billionaire investor is not stepping down altogether: he will remain as chairman.
But, as he has handed over his day-to-day executive responsibilities, it seems like a good moment to reflect on whether the sort of techniques Warren Buffett has used to accumulate billions of pounds in the stock market may still have relevance for an investor today.
A lot has changed in Buffett’s time
Warren Buffett became the boss at Berkshire for some six decades. That was not even the start of his investing career: before that he had run his own investment partnership.
A lot has changed in that time.
Early on in his career, Buffett was able to buy many shares for less than their net asset value, partly because limited information meant many investors did not know about that discrepancy.
Shares selling below net asset value today are far less plentiful than they were back then. However, there are still plenty about, including Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and many UK funds in the renewable energy sector, among others.
But the huge information gaps that once existed have got far rarer. Rather than needing to go to a library and scour detailed financial reports, even a small private investor can now find out huge amounts of information at the tap of a finger, for free.
If anything, though, I see that as a positive thing for small private investors.
Even with just a little to invest, I can now access much of the same information that huge, sophisticated investors can.
The value-based approach still works
While some things have changed, Warren Buffett’s investing style has remained largely the same for decades.
Put simply, he is a value investor. However, that does not mean simply that he looks for shares to buy that sell for less than their net asset value, or have fallen sharply.
Instead, he tries to find what he regards as brilliant businesses in terms of their long-term spare cash generation potential.
Once he finds them, if he can buy at what he thinks is an attractive share price, he aims to do so with a view to holding the share for the long term.
Some of Buffett’s most lucrative investments have come in just the past few years, such as Berkshire’s stake in Apple.
They have been made using that approach. I think it still works.
One share to consider for 2026
Using such Warren Buffett principles, one share I think investors should consider for 2026 is one I have been buying in recent months: Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU).
Buffett likes consumer-facing brands with strong franchises and ongoing sales. He likes a business model that is simple to understand and profitable. He also likes companies that have strong pricing power.
Lululemon has all of those. So, why did the Lululemon share price almost halve over the course of last year?
The company has been struggling with sales in North America. Rivals like Alo are eating into its business and Lululemon’s range has not stayed current enough.
But I think those problems are fixable – and see huge international growth opportunities, too.
