← BRK-B forward model

BRK-B · Forward model · McLane · Bull case

What has to happen in McLane

Model as of

This page changes McLane inside the complete BRK-B model. Every other vertical, corporate programme and valuation assumption stays in the selected portfolio case.

BRK-B forward model
Horizon
Consolidated fair value $584.66 all other verticals held in this portfolio case
Final-quarter revenue $13.31B 11% of company revenue
Explicit segment contribution $4.36B EBITDA less segment capex, before corporate items

Two acquisitions are in the model's revenue but not yet in its earnings power, and both are disclosed. OxyChem closed on 2 January 2026 for about $9.4 billion and has been inside the manufacturing vertical for two quarters only — the industrial products group's revenue rose 27.3% 'primarily attributable to business acquisitions'. Taylor Morrison closed on 24 JULY 2026 for approximately $6.8 billion at $72.50 a share, AFTER the basis quarter, so it contributes exactly nothing to the figures this model is calibrated on and enters manufacturing in 2026 Q3 with no history at all. Add BNSF running 31.22% on higher volumes and better operating efficiency, manufacturing at a ten-quarter-high margin, and $365.5 billion of cash and Treasury Bills against a $30 billion floor — $335 billion of unconstrained buying power for a buyer who has only just started using it. WHAT THIS CASE DOES NOT REACH: it does not mark the investment portfolio up, does not assume the $335 billion is deployed at any particular return, and does not capitalise a single dollar of investment gain. Result: $584.66 a share, +16.1%, at an 8.25% cost of equity and a 14x exit P/E.

McLane

Basis quarter$12.12B
Final quarter$13.31B
Implied CAGR+2%
Final revenue mix11%

Wholesale grocery, convenience-store and foodservice distribution. $12,118M of revenue and $173M of pre-tax earnings in the basis quarter: a 1.43% margin on roughly $50 billion of annual revenue, the largest revenue line in the company and one of the smallest earnings lines. Revenue here is a pass-through of tobacco and grocery cost, so growth is nearly worthless to the valuation and decline is nearly harmless.

Last four quarters
2025 Q3 $13.19B Reported
2025 Q4 $13.03B Estimated
2026 Q1 $11.94B Reported
2026 Q2 $12.12B Reported
Grocery distributionConvenience distributionFoodservice distribution
Sequential growth −0.3%/qtr decaying toward +0.3% -0.3% a quarter. Revenue is in genuine decline: -2.85% year on year on a trailing-twelve-month basis.
McLane

Latest: $13.31B (2031Q2E)

Period Value
2022Q1 $12.52B
2022Q2 $13.26B
2022Q3 $13.57B
2022Q4 $13.86B
2023Q1 $13.06B
2023Q2 $12.88B
2023Q3 $13.48B
2023Q4 $13.19B
2024Q1 $12.47B
2024Q2 $12.46B
2024Q3 $12.72B
2024Q4 $14.25B
2025Q1 $12.18B
2025Q2 $12.60B
2025Q3 $13.19B
2025Q4 $13.03B
2026Q1 $11.94B
2026Q2 $12.12B
2026Q3E $12.13B
2026Q4E $12.15B
2027Q1E $12.18B
2027Q2E $12.21B
2027Q3E $12.26B
2027Q4E $12.30B
2028Q1E $12.35B
2028Q2E $12.41B
2028Q3E $12.47B
2028Q4E $12.54B
2029Q1E $12.60B
2029Q2E $12.67B
2029Q3E $12.74B
2029Q4E $12.82B
2030Q1E $12.90B
2030Q2E $12.97B
2030Q3E $13.06B
2030Q4E $13.14B
2031Q1E $13.22B
2031Q2E $13.31B

Assumptions & reasoning

  • ASEASONAL by the rule, and it is the closest call in the company. Factors [0.9634, 0.9732, 1.0163, 1.0470] give a signal of 0.0835 against a worst window-to-window spread of 0.0849 — the spread MEETS the signal, so no factors are applied. A fourth-quarter tilt is visible but it is not distinguishable from year-to-year noise.
  • 1.43% basis quarter against 1.27% over the trailing twelve months and 1.28% across ten quarters. Terminal is set at the TTM figure. On $12 billion of quarterly revenue, 16bp of margin is $19M — this vertical cannot move the answer.
  • Segment earnings before income taxes are struck after this segment's OWN interest expense. The seven segments' interest lines sum to $1,437M in the basis quarter against $1,335M of CONSOLIDATED interest expense, so every dollar of Berkshire's interest cost is already charged inside a vertical margin. That is why no debt is netted in spec.netCash: subtracting the $128,599M of borrowings as well would take the same cost twice.
  • Berkshire files no fourth-quarter report. Every Q4 point here is the annual figure less the nine-month figure from that year's third-quarter 10-Q and is flagged estimated for that reason; Q1, Q2 and Q3 are read directly from the filed segment notes and are not.
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