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October 18, 2026

Even Buffett had losing years: 61 years of Berkshire vs. the S&P 500

We lined up every year from Berkshire Hathaway's own scorecard (1965–2025) against the S&P 500.

Every year, Berkshire Hathaway prints the same table at the back of its shareholder letter: the yearly change in Berkshire's stock price (per-share market value) next to the S&P 500 with dividends. From 1965 to 2025, Berkshire compounded at 19.7% a year and the S&P 500 at 10.5%. Put $1,000 in at the end of 1964 and you'd have $60,993,940 in Berkshire, or $461,610 in the S&P 500 (before taxes and fees).

Year by year, though, it looks different. Berkshire beat the S&P 500 in 40 of 61 years and trailed it in 21. The stock fell outright in 11 years, and its worst year, 1974, came in at −48.7%.

Berkshire minus the S&P 500, each year (1965–2025)

1965: +39.5%1966: +8.3%1967: −17.6%1968: +66.8%1969: +27.8%1970: −8.5%1971: +65.9%1972: −10.8%1973: +12.3%1974: −22.3%1975: −34.7%1976: +105.7%1977: +54.2%1978: +8.1%1979: +84.3%1980: +0.5%1981: +36.8%1982: +17.0%1983: +46.6%1984: −8.8%1985: +62.1%1986: −4.4%1987: −0.5%1988: +42.7%1989: +52.9%1990: −20.0%1991: +5.1%1992: +22.2%1993: +28.8%1994: +23.7%1995: +19.8%1996: −16.8%1997: +1.5%1998: +23.6%1999: −40.9%2000: +35.7%2001: +18.4%2002: +18.3%2003: −12.9%2004: −6.6%2005: −4.1%2006: +8.3%2007: +23.2%2008: +5.2%2009: −23.8%2010: +6.3%2011: −6.8%2012: +0.8%2013: +0.3%2014: +13.3%2015: −13.9%2016: +11.4%2017: +0.1%2018: +7.2%2019: −20.5%2020: −16.0%2021: +0.9%2022: +22.1%2023: −10.5%2024: +0.5%2025: −7.0%197019801990200020102020

Up: Berkshire won the year. Down: it lost. Solid bars: the longest losing streak and the widest miss

The widest miss

The widest miss came in 1999: the S&P 500 gained +21.0% while Berkshire returned −19.9% (a gap of −40.9 pts). The next year, Berkshire returned +26.6% and the S&P 500 −9.1%.

The longest losing streak ran from 2003 to 2005: 3 years in a row behind the index.

Ten years at a time

PeriodBerkshire / yrS&P 500 / yrGap
1965–1974+12.5%+1.4%+11.1 pts
1975–1984+41.4%+14.6%+26.7 pts
1985–1994+31.9%+14.4%+17.6 pts
1995–2004+15.7%+12.1%+3.6 pts
2005–2014+9.9%+7.7%+2.2 pts
2015–2025+11.6%+13.5%−1.9 pts

The gap was +11.1 pts a year in the first decade (1965–1974) and −1.9 pts in the latest stretch (2015–2025). The bigger a company gets, the harder it is to outgrow the market. Looking back on the days of buying businesses cheaply, Buffett wrote in his 2023 letter that "size did us in" (source).

What the numbers say

One of the most famous investors in history trailed the market in 21 of 61 years, sometimes several in a row. The result didn't come from winning every year. It came from staying in through the years he didn't.

How we calculated this

  • 1965 and 1966: year ended 9/30; 1967: 15 months ended 12/31. Berkshire = change in per-share market value; S&P 500 includes dividends.
  • The full-period averages and the $1,000 figures use the letter's own numbers (compounded annual gain, overall gain). Ten-year averages are calculated from the yearly figures in the table (rounded to one decimal), so they can differ slightly.
  • Source: Berkshire Hathaway 2025 Shareholder Letter, "Berkshire's Performance vs. the S&P 500"

Our take

I rarely sell once I buy, so I always figured I was built for long-term investing. About three years in, I've started to waver. I want to grow it faster, especially when I hear about someone who made several times their money on a single stock.

That's when I look at this table. Buffett trailed the market in 21 of 61 years, sometimes several in a row. Go at your own pace, not someone else's. Let it swing in the short run and wait it out. Putting these numbers together reminded me of that.

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Past returns don't guarantee future results. For information only, not investment advice.