More than half of the 352 respondents to a poll reportedly said so Warren Buffett‘S Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRK BRK will surpass the S&P500 index in the next five years.

What happened: The newest Markets Live Pulse Poll finds finance professionals and retail investors believe Berkshire Hathaway stock carries a significant price premium and are betting the group will outperform the US market, reported Bloomberg.

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The optimistic response comes ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting and at a time when economists believe there’s a 65% chance of the U.S. entering a recession next year, the report said.

Defensive stocks: Respondents believe defensive stocks will outperform technology stocks in the coming months. Given that, that belief would work well for Berkshire Buffett probably will Avoid the latter category due to recent high ratings.

Investors also believe the conglomerate’s stock price still carries a Buffett premium, with nearly two-thirds of respondents valuing that premium at up to 10%, the report said.

Berkshire Hathaway shares have returned over 6% year-to-date. Historically, stocks have returned 9.5% annually in the first quarter since the millennium, compared to the S&P’s 6.5% return, the report said.

Interestingly, just days before the shareholders’ meeting, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Charlie Munger has warned a storm is brewing in the US commercial real estate market, with US banks “full of bad debt” as house prices fall.

This illustration was created using artificial intelligence via MidJourney.

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