S&P 500: Mark Zuckerberg Snatches Prized Bragging Right From Warren Buffett

Mark Zuckerberg may taunt Elon Musk with a cage match. But he just toppled Warren Buffett for financial bragging rights much more valuable to S&P 500 investors.

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Thanks to a powerful 4.4% gain in Meta Platforms (META) stock Thursday, the value of Zuckerberg’s social media firm jumped past Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB). Meta is now worth $799 billion. That makes it the seventh most-valuable stock in the S&P 500.

That’s notably ahead of Berkshire Hathaway at $773 billion, says an Investor’s Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith.

This surge in Meta Platforms’ market value is critical — as it reasserts the company as one of the S&P 500’s key drivers. It’s also the latest sign of the company’s metamorphosis from big spender on virtual reality to leader in social media. And investors are scoring big-time. The stock is up 160% this year, topping Berkshire Hathaway’s 14% rise. That adds nearly $500 billion to Meta investors’ portfolios.

“Meta has been a standout performer in 2023, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed as the ‘year of efficiency,’ ” said Scott Kessler, analyst at Third Bridge. “Investors have been encouraged by Meta’s cost and expense management, which has supported margins and cash flows.”

S&P 500 Flip-Flop From Meta To Berkshire

In many ways, Meta is crawling out of the VR doghouse. Its ill-timed investments on the unpopular technology helped knock its value down to just $316 billion at the end of last year. Meta ended 2022 not even in the top 10 most-valuable S&P 500 firms. It ranked just 19th.

But Meta is back now. And the resurgence returns it as one of the top dogs in the S&P 500. Berkshire Hathaway’s value pulled ahead of Meta’s in early 2022. And its maintained the dominant position throughout 2022 and early 2023. Meta now accounts for 1.7% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).

And it’s not just Meta Platforms riding the momentum of the “Magnificent Seven” stocks. There’s fundamental growth behind the surge. The company on July 26 reported second-quarter profit growth of 21%. That topped expectations by more than 3%. Keep in mind the company’s quarterly profit fell short of views in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2022.

Battle Of S&P 500 Billionaires

There’s also much at stake among billionaire founders of S&P 500 companies.

Zuckerberg, who still owns 13.6% of Meta, gained $66.7 billion just this year in market value. That of course tops Buffett’s $14 billion gain on his 15.1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway.

But perhaps more important to Zuckerberg’s ego is that he’s narrowing the gap with Tesla. Tesla is valued at $812 billion. That puts it still barely just ahead of Meta as the sixth most-valuable S&P 500 stock. The gap, though, is narrowing. Zuckerberg’s personal gain on Meta stock this year outstrips Musk’s $54 billion gain on Tesla.

Looks like the real cage match is yet to come.

Meta Back On Top Of Berkshire

Most valuable S&P 500 companies

Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, IBD