BRK-B vs SKY: How Berkshire Hathaway and Champion Homes Compare (2026)
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
BRK-B is the larger of the two ($1.10T market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (23.71x forward earnings, beta 0.61). SKY is the smaller challenger ($5.00B), priced similarly on forward earnings (22.65x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
BRK-B vs SKY: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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.
| Metric | BRK-B | SKY | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.10T | $5.00B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 23.71 | 22.65 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 15.22 | 24.91 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 0.61 | 1.00 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 91% of range | 77% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 0.00 | 3.18 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Before you buy: how BRK-B and SKY affect your concentration
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 SKY 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 SKY 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.
What does Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) do?
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.
What does Champion Homes (SKY) do?
Champion Homes, Inc. (NYSE: SKY, renamed from Skyline Champion) designs and builds manufactured and modular homes at ~46 plants across the US and Canada, plus park model RVs, accessory dwelling units and modular buildings for multi-family and hospitality customers. Homes reach buyers through independent retailers, builder-developers, manufactured housing communities and a growing company-owned retail network that has expanded from 18 sales centers in fiscal 2022 to roughly 95 today. The company also runs Star Fleet Trucking for transport and installation logistics, and lends through Champion Financing, a joint venture with Triad Financial Services, so it touches production, distribution and the customer's financing in a way most manufacturers do not.
BRK-B vs SKY: how do they differ?
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.
- SKY drivers: The affordability gap keeps widening; Vertical integration into retail and financing.
Which fits which kind of investor
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 SKY, champion's volumes are hostage to chattel lending, the personal-property loan most manufactured home buyers use, which carries higher rates than a conventional mortgage and has no meaningful GSE secondary market despite years of pilot discussion.
BRK-B or SKY: which should you pick?
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; SKY 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 SKY guides.
BRK-B vs SKY: the full fundamentals
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.
SKY. Fiscal 2026 (ended March 2026) was the peak: net sales up 7.3% to ~$2.7 billion, net income ~$206.9 million and adjusted EBITDA ~$308.2 million. Trailing results have since rolled over, with first-quarter fiscal 2027 net sales up only 1.3% to ~$710.2 million and net income of ~$49.2 million (diluted EPS ~$0.89) as material costs rose and Energy Star credits went away. At roughly 27x trailing earnings the shares trade at a clear premium to the manufactured and site-built housing peer group, which has generally sat in the low-to-mid teens, so the multiple is discounting a volume recovery that has not shown up in the numbers yet.
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); SKY shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.67 billion, net income (ttm) ~$191 million, diluted eps (ttm) ~$3.42, market cap ~$5.0 billion.
The bottom line: BRK-B vs SKY
BRK-B and SKY 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 SKY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how BRK-B or SKY fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Berkshire Hathaway with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how BRK-B fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between BRK-B and SKY?
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Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company that owns a wide range of businesses outright and holds a large portfolio of public stocks. Champion Homes, Inc. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is BRK-B or SKY the better stock?
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Neither is universally better. BRK-B is the larger incumbent; SKY is the smaller challenger and looks cheaper on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, BRK-B or SKY?
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On forward P/E (as of August 2026), BRK-B trades at 23.71x and SKY at 22.65x, so SKY is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both BRK-B and SKY?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of BRK-B vs SKY?
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BRK-B: 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. Size is another constraint: at roughly a trillion dollars in market value, Berkshire needs very large deals to move the needle, which limits its universe of opportunities and can hold cash idle. The insurance business carries catastrophe risk, as large wildfire and disaster losses have shown in recent years, and results can swing on a single bad quarter. The reported net income is volatile because accounting rules force Berkshire to mark its huge equity portfolio to market each quarter, so headline profit can gyrate on stock-price moves even when the operating businesses are steady. Berkshire also pays no dividend, so all returns must come from price appreciation and buybacks. SKY: Champion's volumes are hostage to chattel lending, the personal-property loan most manufactured home buyers use, which carries higher rates than a conventional mortgage and has no meaningful GSE secondary market despite years of pilot discussion. Local zoning and placement bans keep the product out of many of the markets where affordability pressure is worst, so demand does not convert cleanly into shipments. Margins are exposed to lumber, steel and gypsum costs, and the recent elimination of Energy Star tax credits removed a real profit contributor. The company competes directly with Clayton Homes, which is roughly twice its size and sits inside Berkshire Hathaway with a captive lender in 21st Mortgage, a structural funding advantage Champion cannot match. Finally, the stock's earnings multiple is well above the site-built homebuilder group, so a stretch of flat volumes leaves little cushion if sentiment on the housing cycle turns.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell BRK-B or SKY; figures are approximate and dated (as of August 2026). Verify current data before investing.