company evaluation Quotes

You don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.

I have no use whatsoever for projections or forecasts. They create an illusion of apparent precision. The more meticulous they are, the more concerned you should be. We never look at projections, but we care very much about, and look very deeply at, track records. If a company has a lousy track record, but a very bright future, we will miss the opportunity.

I like to invest in companies where I can really add value from my experience, network, etc., so checking out my portfolio of other investments, and my background, will generally give some guidance there.

Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it's doing.

My method for picking stocks has never changed. When businesses go from crappy to semicrappy, there's money to be made.

We don't take a macro view... We'd look at every company to figure out if trade sanctions are helpful or hurtful.

Apple is a failure because they missed social? Nobody would say that, because they are having great success.

Look for companies with high profit margins.

I think Yahoo is a great company, with great assets.

We have to scrutinize the entire abatement process to ensure the companies that are under consideration for an abatement truly need one, and I don't believe that is being done now.

A young financial writer once brought ridicule upon himself by stating that a certain company had nothing to commend it except excellent earnings. Well, there are companies whose earnings are excellent but whose stocks I would never recommend. In selecting investments, I attach prime importance to the men behind them. I'd rather buy brains and character than earnings. Earnings can be good one year and poor the next. But if you put your money into securities run by men combining conspicuous brains and unimpeachable character, the likelihood is that the financial results will prove satisfactory.

Never invest in a company without understanding its finances. The biggest losses in stocks come from companies with poor balance sheets.

I look at Boston-based companies all the time... There's certainly great companies in Boston. If the deal makes sense on the merit of the deal itself, we'll go and do the deal.

In the great majority of cases we simply do not know enough about the industry or company to come to sensible judgments-in that situation we pass.

I think I'm going to refrain from criticizing Apple too much. I mean, that's been a pretty great company.

Since your company is the product that makes all of your other products, it should be the best product of all. When you begin to think of your company this way, you evaluate it differently. You ask different questions about it. You look at improving it constantly, rather than just accepting what it's become.

You can learn everything that there is to know about the industry or the player from the company that is performing better or worse.

Amazon can't be all good or all bad. I don't think that everything they do is evil; they've given a lot of authors access.

Meetings are the linchpin of everything. If someone says you have an hour to investigate a company, I wouldn't look at the balance sheet. I'd watch their executive team in a meeting for an hour. If they are clear and focused and have the board on the edge of their seats, I'd say this is a good company worth investing in.

If I taught a class, on my final exam I would take an Internet company and ask, 'How much is this company worth?' Anyone who would answer, I would flunk.

If you're prepared to invest in a company, then you ought to be able to explain why in simple language that a fifth grader could understand, and quickly enough so the fifth grader won't get bored.

Yes, some banks will only float good companies. But others could not give two hoots if you have a business, a business plan or any business experience.