As investors reflect on his unprecedented career, attention turns not just to his legacy — but stocks today that may echo his most successful picks. Over his lifetime, he transformed a struggling textile company into a $1.2trn conglomerate, powered by smart capital allocation and a deep understanding of business fundamentals.

Let’s take a look at the stocks that cemented his legacy and one that could mimic that success going forward.

Warren Buffett’s best investments

Known as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, Buffett’s simple strategy of buying high-quality shares and holding them ‘forever’ is admired by many investors. The companies he chooses are typically those with durable competitive advantages, or ‘economic moats’.

One of his most famous and enduring stock picks is Coca-Cola. Berkshire purchased $1.3bn worth of shares in 1988 — a stake that today is worth over $25bn. This comes due to its consistent dividends and global brand strength — two characteristics that exemplify Buffett’s investment philosophy.

Earlier in his career, he also made a fortune with American Express, buying during a crisis when others were selling. This contrarian mindset of focusing on fundamentals over market fear has consistently defined his success.

So what lesser-known stock today could be the next Buffett-style win?

Coffee culture

Dutch Bros (NASDAQ: BROS) is a fast-growing American coffee chain that could eventually grow to echo classic investments like Coca-Cola. With a cult-like customer base and a vibrant, youth-driven brand, the company is rapidly expanding across the US. Its drive-thru model, energetic culture, and consistent demand create the kind of consumer loyalty that could fuel decades of success.

While it’s still relatively small in US terms, its market cap of $10.37bn has almost doubled in the past year.

In 2024, it reported a 32.6% revenue increase to $1.28bn. And its 2025 first-quarter results, posted last week, show no slowdown. The results revealed a 29.1% increase in revenue to $355.2m, with net income climbing 38.6% to $22.5m.

The strong performance prompted an 8.8% price jump, helping to boost its 2025 year-to-date growth to 13%. While down since February, its trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is still an eye-watering 164. If upcoming earnings fail to impress, this could lead to a notable price drop.

Expansion plans

With just over 1,000 stores currently, Dutch Bros estimates a total addressable market covering 7,000 locations. This expansion potential, paired with strong unit economics and founder-led leadership, makes it a compelling long-term investment option with slow and sustainable growth prospects.

Like Coca-Cola, it markets a high-margin, attractive product with emotional appeal. Sure, competition in the coffee space is intense, but the brand’s differentiation and scalability give it the characteristics of a high-quality, compoundable stock. That said, there still remains a high chance of market share loss if it fails to execute its expansion strategy effectively.

Overall, I think Dutch Bros is an early-stage gem that’s well worth considering — particularly for fans of Warren Buffett’s long-term investing approach.

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Reddit

The US social media site Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) went public in March at $46 a share. I briefly considered the stock at the time but felt there were too many drawbacks. 

The site hosted a user base that is notoriously difficult to monetise, especially compared to other social media sites. The company had never turned a profit despite being in operation since 2005. The price-to-sales ratio was around 15 or so. That’s not a typo. I don’t mean to write earnings. It really traded at 15 times sales. 

And the icing on the cake was the exorbitant boardroom compensation. In 2023, the CFO pocketed $93m and the CEO $193m. Those are eye-watering pay packages compared to $800m revenue at a loss-making company. 

Since that time, the share price has jumped to $141, nearly tripling in around eight months or so. The growth has certainly got me stroking my chin. Is it time to back this horse?

Well, the firm has had a very good year. Advertising revenue has grown. The use of AI to translate articles into other languages has helped grow its user base, too. Reddit also got a bump from loaning out its content to Google and OpenAI to train their AI models. All of which resulted in the firm’s first-ever profit. 

While the transition to actually making money is helpful, I can’t ignore that the AI licensing is expected to be a temporary boost, not a permanent one. And if future numbers go back into the red then this will look costly indeed. I’ll avoid.

Dutch Bros

Another US stock to have taken my interest recently is coffee chain Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS). The fast-growing chain went public in 2021, shot up like a rocket, then crashed 70%. The shares are up 126% since last September, however, so things seem to be going more smoothly now. 

The obvious comparison here is with market leader Starbucks. Dutch Bros is still tiny. It has 900 outlets compared to Starbucks’ 17,000. Its market cap of $8bn is dwarfed by its bigger brother’s $117bn. That’s not to mention the many other players in the market. There’s a big slice of the pie on offer here. 

The up-and-coming firm’s unique selling proposition is in its customer service. You aren’t served by baristas, but “broistas”. As you wait at the window (Dutch Bros operates drive throughs), expect lots and lots of small talk. Management likes to say they are in “the people business, not the coffee business”.

A forward price-to-earnings ratio of 107 is pretty extortionate, however. With the talk growing of a possible US recession in 2025, it’s too expensive for me to buy now. But I’ll be keeping it on my watch list in case a better entry point comes up.

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