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

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 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: MARUY 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 MARUY 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 MARUY 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. 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.

Full BRK-B guide

Marubeni Corporation is a Tokyo-based sogo shosha, a trading and investment conglomerate that buys, sells, finances and owns businesses across most of the physical economy. It reports ten operating segments: Lifestyle, Food & Agri Business, Metals & Mineral Resources, Energy & Chemicals, Power & Infrastructure Services, Finance, Leasing & Real Estate Business, Aerospace & Mobility, IT Solutions, and two Next Generation units. Much of its profit comes from stakes in operating companies rather than trading margins: US farm inputs through Helena Agri-Enterprises, US beef through Creekstone Farms, Chilean copper mines, Australian steelmaking coal, aircraft leasing through Aircastle, the aircraft parts distributor DASI, power plants and retail power trading through SmartestEnergy, and US used-car lending through Nowlake. Reported revenue for the year ended March 31, 2026 (fiscal 2025) was ¥8,265.8 billion, but for a trading house net profit is the better gauge of scale, because revenue includes large volumes of low-margin trading.

Full MARUY 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.
• MARUY drivers: Record profits and the fiscal 2026 forecast; Copper, coal and other commodities.

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: 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 MARUY, commodity prices are the largest swing factor: copper, steelmaking coal and aluminum lifted first-quarter fiscal 2026 resources profit by about ¥23 billion, and the same exposure works in reverse if prices fall or Chinese demand weakens.

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; MARUY 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 MARUY guides.

BRK-B. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; 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, so investors typically focus on operating earnings and book value per share rather than a simple P/E. The record cash balance means a meaningful part of the market cap is cash awaiting deployment, which affects how the business should be valued.

MARUY. At ¥4,702 a share in Tokyo, Marubeni trades at roughly 13 times its fiscal 2026 EPS forecast of ¥356.75 and about 1.7 times equity per share of ¥2,742.51 at June 30, 2026. Revenue of ¥8.27 trillion in fiscal 2025 overstates the business, because it includes large volumes of low-margin trading; profit and cash flow are the better measures. Core operating cash flow is planned at ¥660 billion for fiscal 2026, above the ¥580 billion net profit forecast, which is what funds buybacks and a dividend that has risen from ¥107.5 in fiscal 2025 to a planned ¥115. The yen is the swing factor in dollar terms: the MARUY quote of ~$29.78 equals the Tokyo price at about ¥158 per dollar, so a one-yen move shifts the ADR by roughly 0.6% before any change in the shares.

Headline figures (approximate, Jul 2026): BRK-B shows operating earnings (q1 2026) ~$11.35 billion, up ~18% year over year (approximate; verify live), net earnings (q1 2026) ~$10.1 billion, but volatile due to mark-to-market swings on equities (approximate; verify live), cash and treasurys ~$397 billion at end of Q1 2026, a record (approximate; verify live), market cap ~$1 trillion (BRK-B ~$497 per share in mid-July 2026; approximate; verify live); MARUY shows net profit (fy ended march 2026) ¥543.9B (record), fy2026 net profit forecast ¥580.0B (EPS ~¥356.75), q1 fy2026 net profit ¥186.4B (+20.7% YoY), market cap ~¥7.6T (~$48B) at ¥4,702 in Tokyo.

BRK-B and MARUY 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 MARUY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.