Jul 11, 2022
Written by:
John McDowell
While it may be more of a novelty for most traders to think about, the most expensive stocks in the world are usually very well-established companies. Their steady growth through the years and even decades is a testament to the management and quality product that the companies offer. To that end, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is the most expensive stock as of July 2022. It reached its all-time high of $544,389.25 on March 29, 2022, which is the highest stock price ever recorded.
At the time of writing, the most expensive stock in the world is Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), trading at $415,850 per share. There are a handful of other expensive stocks, but many stocks will do splits in order to keep the price of their shares more reasonable. Berkshire hasn't really taken this approach over the years, which could be why its stock price is still very high with respect to other well-known companies like Apple, Tesla, or Amazon.
Many other markets also have their own expensive stocks, but when their prices are converted into U.S dollars, Berkshire Hathaway is still the most expensive of them all.
You should note that the list of top 10 most expensive stocks can change with the ups and downs in stock prices for any reason. For example, some companies deliberately reduce their stock prices through a stock split activity, which makes their shares affordable for investors. On June 06, 2022, Amazon stock was trading at $2,785, but after the 20-1 stock split, its price came down to around $125 per share. Many other factors can also come into play, which change stock prices.
If you want to hold a portfolio of highly-priced stocks or are just curious to know which companies make it to the list, the following list of the top 10 most expensive stocks as of July 05, 2022, will come in handy.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a multinational holding company conglomerate, which wholly owns many companies and has varying stakes in many others. For example, it fully owns GEICO, Fruit of the Loom, BNSF Railway, and Helzberg Diamonds, while it also has stakes in Bank of America, the Coca-Cola Company, Apple, American Express, and Kraft Heinz Company. Warren Buffet, the famous American billionaire investor, owns the company and serves as its CEO and Chairman. At the time of writing, the company’s stock trades at $415,850 per share, making it the most expensive stock in the world.
NVR, Inc. is an American company involved in the business of home construction, mortgage banking, and title services. At the time of writing, the company’s stock was trading at $4,369 per share, making it the second-most expensive stock in the world.
Seaboard Corporation is engaged in ocean transportation and agribusiness. The primary business activities of the company include commodity merchandising, pork production, pork processing, sugar production, and grain processing, among others. At the time of writing, the company’s stock trades at $3,904, which ranks it third on the list of most expensive stocks in the world.
Alphabet Inc. is the parent company of Google. Its Class C shares, GOOG, trade at $2,277 per share at the time of writing, making it the fourth-most expensive stock on the list of top 10 expensive stocks.
GOOGL, Alphabet’s Class A shares, is trading at $2,265 per share at the time of writing, which ranks it the fifth-most expensive stock in the world.
AutoZone Inc is the largest retailer of aftermarket automotive parts in America. As of July 06, 2022, its stock ranked 6th on the list of top-10 expensive stocks at the share price of $2,139.
Booking Holdings Inc. is an American company that owns and runs several travel search engines and travel fare aggregators. At the time of writing, the company’s stock was trading at $1,788, which places it at the 7th spot on the list of expensive stocks.
Texas Pacific Land Corporation is an American company based in Texas. It operates real estate assets and is one of the largest landowners in the American state of Texas. The company earns the majority of its revenue from oil & gas royalties. At the time of writing, the company’s share price was $1,468, which places it at the 8th spot on the list of most expensive stocks.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Germany. Its specialties include mission burritos, tacos, and Mexican-style cuisine. As of July 06, 2022, its stock was trading at $1,362, placing it in the 9th spot on the list of expensive stocks.
Markel Corporation is an American holding company involved in the insurance, reinsurance, and investment business in America, the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Canada. The company also makes investments in areas outside of insurance through its investment arm, Markel Ventures. As of July 06, 2022, the company’s share price was $1,295, the 10th highest of all the publicly-traded stocks in the world.
The biggest single-day stock gain in history occurred on February 04, 2022, when Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) added around $191 billion to its market capitalization. With the explosive single-day gain in its market capitalization, Amazon broke the previous record of $181 billion single-day market capitalization gain set by Apple a week prior. The spectacular rise in its stock price came on the back of strong fourth-quarter earnings.
There are plenty of ways to measure the increase in stock price. Mostly, a stock’s price change from the previous day’s close is reported in dollar terms, in percentage, or in terms of increase in market capitalization. However, if you want to determine which company’s stock is the most expensive, you need to either calculate its market capitalization or check its share price.
When a stock’s price increases, its market capitalization also increases. For example, if a stock’s price rises by $2 and the number of shares outstanding are 1 million, its market capitalization would increase by $2 million. Measuring the most expensive stock by market capitalization gives you an accurate picture of the stock price and allows you to calculate the total impact of the change in share price on the company’s value.
Market capitalization determines the total value of a company and is calculated by multiplying its stock price by the total number of shares outstanding. Companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon have a market capitalization in excess of trillions of dollars, which ranks them some of the largest and most expensive companies in the world.
While the stock of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) is the most expensive in terms of price per share ($415,850 per share), Apple is the world’s largest and most expensive company with a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion at the time of writing.
Price per share is the most common method to determine the most expensive stock, as the price is what investors have to pay to acquire stock. For example, Berkshire Hathaway’s current stock price of $415,850 makes it by far the most expensive stock of all the publicly-traded stocks in the world. The second most expensive stock is NVR Inc., which is trading at $4,369 at the time of writing.
If you don’t have enough capital to buy expensive stocks, such as Berkshire Hathaway, Google, or others, you have the option to buy fractional shares of these companies. For example, you can buy a half, 1/4th, or a fraction of stock if your broker allows you to do so. Brokers that allow you to trade fractional shares usually find fractional shares from their own inventory or get them from other traders to complete trades.
You must note that the highest-priced stocks don’t necessarily mean they are the most sought-after stocks or offer superior returns. There could be many reasons for a stock to trade at such high values. For example, one possible reason for such high valuations is the lack of stock splitting activity. If a company keeps on registering positive growth in its revenue and profitability, its stock price will theoretically rise.
Without any stock split activity by the company’s management, its stock would rise over time, resulting in much higher valuations. Stock splits slash the price of shares, depending on the ratio of the split, but does not change the total value of the company. Alphabet’s management has also approved a 20-1 stock split for its GOOGL stock, which will commence after the close of business day on July 15, 2022. After the stock split, the stock’s price would reduce to 1/20th of its original value.
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