Warren Buffett says the business model American Express, which is one of the famous investor’s largest holdings, is under attack, but that’s not enough to get him to sell the stock.
Buffett, who was answering a question at the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, about why he doesn’t sell more often, said that he thought American Express is an attractive business and that would be stupid for competitors to ignore it. “A lot of companies are not as great as they used to be,” says Buffett.
Shares of American Express (AXP) have been a disappointment for Berkshire and other investors in the past year.
Nonetheless, Buffett says he is “happy” with American Express (AXP) and has no plans to sell the stock. “I like American Express,” says Buffett.
Some have criticized Buffett for having his portfolio stuck in a few large companies that appear to be past their prime. Earlier in the day Buffett praised Amazon, a company that Buffett does not own any shares of.
Buffett’s No. 2 Charlie Munger said that he thought anyone with a legacy payment infrastructure these days is going to have some issues. But Munger added that auto companies are not as powerful as they used to be. “When I was young GM loomed over the economy,” says Munger. “The world changes.”
Berkshire owns over 1.6 million shares of General Motors (GM).
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