The ultimate shrewdness is found not in the balance sheet, but in the qualitative excellence of the business.
- Manlobbi
Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
No. of Recommendations: 1
Anyone out there looking at KHC? Hovering near a 52 low and yielding a solid albeit not growing 7% dividend. Greg Abel in a roundabout way in his CNBC interview expressed some confidence in their new leadership, saying they had no immediate plans to sell their stake.
Could be a good buy for income-oriented investors, sort of like buying a bond.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
-BD
No. of Recommendations: 2
I'd be interested in a discussion on this. It's not just a 52-week low, but a low not seen since 2012 (other than maybe a few days in March 2020). They reported significant non-cash impairment losses in 2025 of $9.3 Billion, that brought them to losses for the reporting period, and a currently-negative P/E. Have you looked at those impairment losses?
No. of Recommendations: 13
I might actually be tempted to throw this into a too-hard pile. KHC was working on separating assets for some kind of sale/split, but is pausing that because they can't do that alongside returning to profitability - it's too much work apparently. Berkshire has options for their stake that will likely not be available to us. Things like choosing sections of the business if they are up for grabs, maybe getting all of Kraft's Cheese products - like when Berkshire got Duracell from Gillette when they split it off.
But a portion of my hesitation is the corporate word salad in their releases:
"we will no longer incur related dis-synergies this year"
"I knew that this was an exciting opportunity to contemporize iconic brands"
It just seems to me, since the business is simple, that leadership should be able to put their thoughts in simple terms. And if they can't, or they want to pretend it's not simple, then they aren't too deserving of my investment dollar.
No. of Recommendations: 6
I'd rather buy a good company. 3G ruined Heinz through its business model of slashing costs, primarily by slashing headcount. We can do better.
Now, to really get myself in trouble, I'd ask for an assessment of GEICO's quality. Everybody loves the improved profits, except for the 60% of employees who were laid off.
No. of Recommendations: 11
Berkshire has options for their stake that will likely not be available to us. Things like choosing sections of the business if they are up for grabs, maybe getting all of Kraft's Cheese products - like when Berkshire got Duracell from Gillette when they split it off.
It's a more attractive strategy when you actually have capital gains that you don't want to pay taxes on, something which unfortunately does not apply to a firm like KraftHeinz whose value has gone from $23.4b at the merger in July 2015 to $7.4b now, 10+ years later. The loss is not nearly as bad as that, given the fact that they made money on the $9b stake in Heinz they owned from 2013 to 2015, through share appreciation and dividends; Buffett said in 2018 AR that the stake's carrying value was $13.8b, and there have been lots of dividends since then. But it's obviously been a terrible 10-year investment, even if they break even with the dividends, and they won't have any capital gains to shelter.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Revenue is slowly melting away. I expect this to continue as processed foods have become the whipping boy of every diet, from Carnivore to MAHA to WFPB.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Time to dis-synergize Berkshire’s Heinz investment and contemporize the cash into something better.
No. of Recommendations: 8
Revenue is slowly melting away. I expect this to continue...
True enough, but emphasis on "slowly". Revenue has fallen from around $27bn to around $25bn in ten years.
Even if they continue fading it's conceivable that the present value of the dividend stream is more than the current stock price.
Jim
No. of Recommendations: 2
I have been nibbling (no pun intended.)
From Bloomberg yesterday: Kraft Heinz Co. is rolling out a series of healthier products to bolster some of its lagging brands, including a new high-protein Kraft Mac & Cheese and a low-sugar hydration beverage from Capri Sun.
The company aims to provide "proof points" to customers and investors that Kraft Heinz can turn its business around by investing in product development and leaning into protein-heavy, better-for-you foods.
The new product launches are part of a broader effort to restore growth in brands that have struggled, with Chief Executive Officer Steve Cahillane saying the company will be investing $600 million into new products, marketing, and lower prices.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-17...abromber
