CS: Measuring the Moat

A nice analysis of moats by Credit Suisse.  Report embedded below – followed by Buffett’s quotes on moats.  Note the Value Creation Checklist on p. 52 of the analysis.

Warren Buffett on Economic Moats

“What we refer to as a “moat” is what other people might call competitive advantage . . . It’s something
that differentiates the company from its nearest competitors – either in service or low cost or taste or
some other perceived virtue that the product possesses in the mind of the consumer versus the next best  alternative . . . There are various kinds of moats. All economic moats are either widening or narrowing – even though you can’t see it.”

— Outstanding Investor Digest, June 30, 1993

“Look for the durability of the franchise. The most important thing to me is figuring out how big a moat  there is around the business. What I love, of course, is a big castle and a big moat with piranhas and crocodiles.”

— Linda Grant, “Striking Out at Wall Street,” U.S. News & World Report, June 12, 1994

“The key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the
durability of that advantage. The products or services that have wide, sustainable moats around them are the ones that deliver rewards to investors.”

— Warren Buffett and Carol Loomis, “Mr. Buffett on the Stock Market,” Fortune, November 22, 1999

We think of every business as an economic castle. And castles are subject to marauders. And in
capitalism, with any castle . . . you have to expect . . . that millions of people out there . . . are thinking
about ways to take your castle away.  Then the question is, “What kind of moat do you have around that castle that protects it?”

— Outstanding Investor Digest, December 18, 2000

“When our long-term competitive position improves . . . we describe the phenomenon as “widening the moat.” And doing that is essential if we are to have the kind of business we want a decade or two from now. We always, of course, hope to earn more money in the short-term. But when short-term and longterm conflict, widening the moat must take precedence. ”

— Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders, 2005

“A truly great business must have an enduring “moat” that protects excellent returns on invested capital. The dynamics of capitalism guarantee that competitors will repeatedly assault any business “castle” that is earning high returns . . . Our criterion of “enduring” causes us to rule out companies in industries prone to rapid and continuous change. Though capitalism’s “creative destruction” is highly beneficial for society, it precludes investment certainty. A moat that must be continuously rebuilt will eventually be no moat at all . . . Additionally, this criterion eliminates the business whose success depends on having a great manager.”

— Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders, 2007

 

Found via Punchcard Investing Blog