Stocks that pass Buffett's quality tests

Ranked by status, then by the share of tests passed. Updated daily using 5 investment models.

52 of 1,277 stocks Buffett's model rates pass — rated Strong (≥ 85% of evaluable criteria passed), as of Nov 6, 2026. PAG ranks first.

Data as of Nov 6, 2026

#	Ticker	Company	Tests passed	Buffett	Score
1	PAG	PENSKE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, INC.	8/8	Strong	7.8
2	NEU	NEWMARKET CORP	8/8	Strong	7.0
3	SFM	Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.	8/8	Strong	5.5
4	ACGL	ARCH CAPITAL GROUP LTD.	6/6	Strong	7.5
5	PRI	Primerica, Inc.	6/6	Strong	7.3
6	WRB	BERKLEY W R CORP	6/6	Strong	6.5
7	SNA	Snap-on Inc	5/5	Strong	6.7
8	ADP	AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING INC	5/5	Strong	6.4
9	LRCX	LAM RESEARCH CORP	7/8	Strong	8.4
10	AMAT	APPLIED MATERIALS INC /DE	7/8	Strong	8.1
11	EXPD	EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON INC	7/8	Strong	7.3
12	SEIC	SEI INVESTMENTS CO	7/8	Strong	7.3
13	GWW	W.W. GRAINGER, INC.	7/8	Strong	7.2
14	AAPL	Apple Inc.	7/8	Strong	7.1
15	LECO	LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC	7/8	Strong	6.9
16	FAST	FASTENAL CO	7/8	Strong	6.9
17	WSM	WILLIAMS SONOMA INC	7/8	Strong	6.9
18	CORT	CORCEPT THERAPEUTICS INC	7/8	Strong	6.8
19	NVDA	NVIDIA CORP	7/8	Strong	6.8
20	PLUS	EPLUS INC	7/8	Strong	6.7
21	ASO	Academy Sports & Outdoors, Inc.	7/8	Strong	6.6
22	TPL	Texas Pacific Land Corp	7/8	Strong	6.5
23	CRUS	CIRRUS LOGIC, INC.	7/8	Strong	6.2
24	DCI	DONALDSON Co INC	7/8	Strong	6.1
25	HUBB	HUBBELL INC	7/8	Strong	6.0
26	CTAS	CINTAS CORP	7/8	Strong	6.0
27	MSFT	MICROSOFT CORP	7/8	Strong	5.9
28	DECK	DECKERS OUTDOOR CORP	7/8	Strong	5.7
29	APAM	Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.	7/8	Strong	5.5
30	ALLE	Allegion plc	7/8	Strong	5.5
31	SF	STIFEL FINANCIAL CORP	7/8	Strong	5.4
32	G	Genpact LTD	7/8	Strong	5.3
33	PAYX	PAYCHEX INC	7/8	Strong	5.0
34	LULU	lululemon athletica inc.	7/8	Strong	4.3
35	LII	LENNOX INTERNATIONAL INC	7/8	Strong	4.3
36	MNST	Monster Beverage Corp	7/8	Strong	4.2
37	TSCO	TRACTOR SUPPLY CO /DE/	7/8	Strong	3.9
38	FFBC	FIRST FINANCIAL BANCORP /OH/	6/7	Strong	8.3
39	CATY	CATHAY GENERAL BANCORP	6/7	Strong	8.2
40	OFG	OFG BANCORP	6/7	Strong	8.1
41	FBP	FIRST BANCORP /PR/	6/7	Strong	7.9
42	EWBC	EAST WEST BANCORP INC	6/7	Strong	7.9
43	CHCO	CITY HOLDING CO	6/7	Strong	7.2
44	CB	Chubb Ltd	6/7	Strong	7.2
45	ABCB	Ameris Bancorp	6/7	Strong	7.0
46	AX	Axos Financial, Inc.	6/7	Strong	7.0
47	IBOC	INTERNATIONAL BANCSHARES CORP	6/7	Strong	6.6
48	ORI	OLD REPUBLIC INTERNATIONAL CORP	6/7	Strong	6.5
49	CINF	CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP	6/7	Strong	6.5
50	MTG	MGIC INVESTMENT CORP	6/7	Strong	6.3

Buffett's rules, as AlphaStocks applies them

Test	Passes when	Applies to	Source
Return on equity ≥ 15% every year and ≥ 20% on average	ROE on average equity ≥ 15% in every year and ≥ 20% on average over 10 years (judged on at least 5)	General, Bank, Asset manager, Holding company, Utility, REIT	Berkshire letter 1987 ("an average return on equity over 20% … and no year worse than 15%")
Return on tangible capital ≥ 15% on average	after-tax operating profit ÷ tangible capital (equity + debt − cash − goodwill − intangibles) ≥ 15% on average	General, Asset manager, Holding company, Utility, REIT	Berkshire letter 1983 (economic goodwill: excess return on net tangible assets)
Moat signals in the numbers: durable returns and stable margins	return on tangible capital ≥ 15% in at least 80% of the years, and gross (else operating) margin with a coefficient of variation ≤ 0.15 across the window	General, Asset manager, Holding company, Utility, REIT	Frazzini, Kabiller & Pedersen (2018), Financial Analysts Journal 74(4); Asness, Frazzini & Pedersen (2019), Quality Minus Junk. The 0.15 cut is ours
Owner earnings positive every year and growing	owner earnings (net income + D&A − capex; stock pay stays an expense) positive every year, and the latest 3-year average above the first	General, Bank, Asset manager, Holding company, Utility, REIT	Berkshire letter 1986 (owner earnings)
Debt payable from three years of owner earnings, equity positive	total debt ≤ 3 × owner earnings, and equity positive	General, Asset manager, Holding company, Utility, REIT	Berkshire letter 1987 ("Really good businesses usually don't need to borrow"); the 3-year limit is the strict end of Buffettology (1997)
Each $1 retained added at least $1 of market value (5 years)	market value added ≥ $1 for each $1 of earnings retained over 5 years	Every profile the model rates	Berkshire letter 1983 (the $1 test, "on a five-year rolling basis")
Diluted share count not higher than five years ago	diluted share count not higher than 5 years earlier	Every profile the model rates	Berkshire letters 1984 (buybacks) and 1992 (options are compensation)
Price at or below 75% of intrinsic value	price ≤ 75% of intrinsic value (owner earnings per share, 10 years at the company's own growth held to -5%…10%, then 3% forever, discounted at 10%)	Every profile the model rates	Berkshire letter 1992 (value = discounted cash flows); margin of safety: Graham, The Intelligent Investor, ch. 20
Return on assets ≥ 1.25% on average (1990 letter)	return on average assets ≥ 1.25% on average	Bank	Berkshire letter 1990 (Wells Fargo: "1.25% on assets")
Assets no more than twenty times equity (1990 letter)	total assets ≤ 20 × equity	Bank	Berkshire letter 1990 (banks carrying "assets twenty times equity")
Premiums covered losses and expenses (combined ratio ≤ 100%)	total benefits, losses and expenses ÷ net premiums earned ≤ 100% summed over 10 years (judged on at least 5) — an upper bound on the combined ratio; not applicable when premiums are below 75% of total revenues	Insurer	Berkshire letters 2007 (float is free when "premiums we receive equal the losses and expenses we incur") and 2009 (underwriting profit); the premium-share cut is ours
Return on equity ≥ 10% on average, no loss year	ROE on average equity ≥ 10% on average over 10 years and no year below 0% (judged on at least 5)	Insurer	Berkshire letter 2009 (insurers' returns on tangible equity fall short of the S&P 500's); the floor follows the 1987 letter's "no year worse than" form
Book value per share (plus dividends) compounded ≥ 10% a year	book value per share, with dividends paid added back, compounded ≥ 10% a year over up to 10 years (at least 5)	Insurer	Berkshire letters 2007 and 2009 (per-share book value, the yardstick opening each letter)
Equity positive, premiums ≤ 3× equity (NAIC IRIS ratio 2)	equity positive and net premiums earned ≤ 3 × equity	Insurer	NAIC IRIS ratio 2 (net premiums written to policyholders' surplus, usual range under 300%), proxied by premiums earned over GAAP equity

How the tests become a status

Strong: ≥ 85% of evaluable criteria passed
Attractive: ≥ 65%
Neutral: ≥ 40%
Reject: below 40%
Insufficient data: fewer than 5 criteria evaluable

Not applicable to

Buffett's model rates every sector profile.

Adapted for

Bank — Bank adaptation (1990 letter): owner earnings are reported earnings, leverage replaces the debt test, and the tangible-capital and margin criteria do not apply.
Insurer — Insurer adaptation (2007 and 2009 letters): judged on underwriting, returns and per-share book value; reported earnings stand in for owner earnings.

Source

Berkshire Hathaway letters, Warren Buffett. Cited as: Berkshire letters 1977–1992; Frazzini, Kabiller & Pedersen (2018).

The bands are ours: with eight criteria, Strong allows one miss and Attractive two.

How AlphaStocks computes the Buffett Quality Criteria →

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