BRK-B vs DPC: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of November 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: BRK-B is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. BRK-B and DPC share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined BRK-B and DPC exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company that owns a wide range of businesses outright and holds a large portfolio of public stocks. Its foundation is insurance: GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance, and other insurers generate underwriting profit and, more importantly, float (premiums held before claims are paid) that Berkshire invests. In Q1 2026 insurance underwriting income rose to about $1.72 billion from $1.34 billion a year earlier, and Q2 2026 underwriting income was about $1.73 billion. Insurance float stood at about $177.5 billion at June 30, 2026. Beyond insurance, Berkshire owns the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and consumer and industrial businesses such as Duracell, Dairy Queen, See's Candies, and Precision Castparts, alongside a stock portfolio historically anchored by names like Apple and American Express. Under Abel the operating group has kept growing by acquisition: Berkshire completed its purchase of OxyChem on January 2, 2026 and closed the $8.5 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison on July 24, 2026.

Full BRK-B guide

Doncasters was founded in 1778 in Derby, England, and its modern business is making the parts that sit in the hottest, most stressed section of a jet engine or an industrial gas turbine: single-crystal and equiaxed turbine blades, vanes, structural castings, turbine frames, housings and airfoils, plus the nickel- and cobalt-based superalloy feedstock those castings are poured from. A third business line makes turbocharger wheels for engine manufacturers. The company reports in three segments, Engine Products North America (roughly 60% of revenue), Engine Products Europe (roughly 30%) and Turbo Wheels (roughly 10%), across 14 principal facilities with about 3,070 employees. Customers are the engine and turbine primes themselves: GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Safran, Honeywell, Siemens Energy, GE Vernova, Ansaldo Energia and Doosan. About 70% of 2025 revenue sat under long-term agreements, and the moat is regulatory qualification rather than brand: once a casting is certified into an engine program, replacing the supplier is a multi-year engineering and re-certification exercise.

Full DPC guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• BRK-B drivers: Leadership transition to Greg Abel; Insurance float and underwriting.
• DPC drivers: Narrowbody engine output and the hot-section aftermarket; Industrial gas turbine demand tied to power for data centres.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The central 2026 risk is the leadership transition itself, now complete at the top with Buffett as chairman emeritus: Buffett's judgment and reputation were core to Berkshire's edge, and the market will test whether Greg Abel can allocate capital as effectively, especially with a record cash pile to deploy. For DPC, the most visible risk has been the price itself.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick BRK-B if you believe its drivers more; DPC if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the BRK-B and DPC guides.

BRK-B. Figures are approximate and tied to mid-October 2026; verify live numbers before acting. Because accounting rules force Berkshire to mark its large stock portfolio to market each quarter, GAAP net income is noisy: the trailing P/E of about 13 is flattered by investment gains, while the forward multiple of about 24 is based on operating earnings alone. The cash balance means a meaningful part of the market cap is cash awaiting deployment, and the resumption of buybacks in 2026 suggests management sees the shares as reasonably priced. Third-quarter results are expected around November 7, 2026.

DPC. Priced at $33, the IPO valued the group near $4.2 billion; the market pushed that to about $8.3 billion by August and has since brought it back to roughly $4.65 billion, about 4.9 times trailing sales and 32 times forward earnings. On trailing GAAP figures the company loses money, so any valuation case still runs through adjusted earnings and an assumption that interest and one-off charges fall now that pre-IPO debt has been replaced. The next report, expected around November 9 with consensus EPS of about $0.20 on revenue of about $266 million, is the near-term swing factor.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): BRK-B shows operating earnings (q2 2026) ~$12.98 billion, up ~16% from ~$11.16 billion; first half ~$24.3 billion, net earnings (q2 2026) ~$25.7 billion, including ~$12.7 billion of investment gains from equity marks, revenue (ttm) ~$385 billion; Q2 2026 revenue up ~10% year over year, insurance float ~$177.5 billion at June 30, 2026; DPC shows revenue (ttm) ~$953 million through June 2026, q2 2026 revenue ~$269 million, up ~34% year over year, adjusted eps (q2 2026) $0.05 vs $0.03 estimate, gaap net income (ttm) ~-$249 million; Q2 2026 net loss ~$131 million.

BRK-B and DPC are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined BRK-B and DPC exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.