Screen · Berkshire Criteria

Buffett Quality Screen

Buffett's "wonderful business" criteria, quantified into six dimensions: earnings record (20), ROE quality (25 — Fortune's double standard), low leverage (15), pricing power (15), business stability (15) and capital efficiency (10), for a 0–100 total. The entry gate is the first of Berkshire's acquisition criteria — at least $50M average pre-tax earnings over the last three fiscal years (banks and insurers excluded, as leverage is their business model; investment trusts and closed-end funds excluded, as they are portfolios rather than operating companies). Recomputed periodically from each company's last ten fiscal years; cross-listings merged by canonical ticker. Hover the score for the six-dimension breakdown; companies we cover link to their report. Filtered by score tier "Elite", market "US", market cap "Mid $2–10B": 34 match(clear filters).

# Ticker Mkt Cap Score 10Y ROE Profit Streak Net Debt/Eq Gross Margin Report FY
1 Federated Investors Inc B FHI · US $4.6B
96/100 Elite
28.6%low 22.9% 10 yr+ Net cash 68% FY2025
2 Paycom Software, Inc. PAYC · US $7.6B
95/100 Elite
28.8%low 21.9% 10 yr+ Net cash 84% FY2025
3 WD-40 Company WDFC · US $3.0B
95/100 Elite
36.0%low 30.2% 10 yr+ 0.1× 54% FY2025
4 National Beverage Corp FIZZ · US $3.0B
95/100 Elite
41.0%low 28.7% 10 yr+ Net cash 37% FY2026
5 Exponent Inc EXPO · US $3.2B
94/100 Elite
26.7%low 22.8% 10 yr+ Net cash 60% FY2025
6 MarketAxess Holdings Inc MKTX · US $5.7B
93/100 Elite
25.1%low 19.7% 10 yr+ Net cash 77% FY2025
7 FactSet Research Systems Inc FDS · US $9.4B
92/100 Elite
40.4%low 27.3% 10 yr+ 0.6× 53% FactSet Research Systems Deep Value Investment ResearchMay 31, 2026 · Cautious Buy FY2025
8 Genpact Limited G · US $5.1B
92/100 Elite
20.4%low 16.8% 10 yr+ 0.2× 36% FY2025
9 Smith AO Corporation AOS · US $8.2B
91/100 Elite
23.4%low 13.5% 10 yr+ Net cash 39% A. O. Smith Water Heaters & Water Treatment Deep DiveMay 23, 2026 · Watch FY2025
10 Chemed Corp CHE · US $7.1B
90/100 Elite
29.2%low 18.2% 10 yr+ 0.1× 33% FY2025
11 MSC Industrial Direct Company Inc MSM · US $6.9B
89/100 Elite
20.2%low 14.4% 10 yr+ 0.3× 42% FY2025
12 Gentex Corporation GNTX · US $5.0B
89/100 Elite
18.6%low 15.4% 10 yr+ Net cash 36% FY2025
13 Grand Canyon Education Inc LOPE · US $3.8B
89/100 Elite
23.3%low 16.3% 10 yr+ Net cash 52% FY2025
14 Qualys Inc QLYS · US $5.1B
88/100 Elite
24.2%low 7.4% 10 yr+ Net cash 79% FY2025
15 Cohen & Steers Inc CNS · US $4.2B
88/100 Elite
40.2%low 27.3% 10 yr+ Net cash 50% FY2025
16 Robert Half International Inc RHI · US $3.8B
88/100 Elite
30.4%low 10.4% 10 yr+ Net cash 41% FY2025
17 Toro Co TTC · US $8.7B
87/100 Elite
32.6%low 21.8% 10 yr+ 0.5× 35% FY2025
18 Brady Corporation BRC · US $4.5B
87/100 Elite
14.9%low 12.1% 10 yr+ Net cash 50% FY2025
19 YETI Holdings Inc YETI · US $3.7B
86/100 Elite
35.8%low 17.0% 10 yr+ 0.1× 53% FY2025
20 Buckle Inc BKE · US $2.3B
86/100 Elite
39.8%low 22.8% 10 yr+ 0.3× 46% FY2026
21 Vontier Corp VNT · US $4.5B
85/100 Elite
40.2%low 21.4% 10 yr+ 1.3× 45% FY2025
22 Acuity Brands Inc AYI · US $9.8B
84/100 Elite
17.1%low 11.7% 10 yr+ 0.2× 43% FY2025
23 Allison Transmission Holdings Inc ALSN · US $9.6B
84/100 Elite
49.2%low 19.9% 10 yr+ 0.8× 49% Allison Transmission: A Reassessment During the Integration PhaseMay 28, 2026 · Hold FY2025
24 Houlihan Lokey Inc HLI · US $8.8B
83/100 Elite
19.2%low 14.8% 10 yr+ Net cash 43% FY2026
25 NewMarket Corporation NEU · US $7.8B
82/100 Elite
35.6%low 23.5% 10 yr+ 0.5× 28% FY2025
26 Landstar System Inc LSTR · US $5.9B
82/100 Elite
30.3%low 14.5% 10 yr+ Net cash 20% FY2025
27 Trex Company Inc TREX · US $4.5B
82/100 Elite
33.1%low 18.4% 10 yr+ 0.2× 40% FY2025
28 CSG Systems International Inc CSGS · US $2.3B
82/100 Elite
20.0%low 12.4% 10 yr+ 1.4× 48% FY2025
29 Simpson Manufacturing Company Inc SSD · US $7.8B
81/100 Elite
17.2%low 10.4% 10 yr+ 0.1× 46% FY2025
30 Lancaster Colony Corporation LANC · US $4.8B
81/100 Elite
17.8%low 10.6% 10 yr+ Net cash 24% FY2024
31 The Marzetti Company MZTI · US $2.9B
81/100 Elite
17.7%low 10.6% 10 yr+ Net cash 24% FY2025
32 Frontdoor Inc FTDR · US $5.1B
80/100 Elite
49.5%low 22.1% 10 yr+ 2.7× 47% FY2025
33 Badger Meter Inc BMI · US $3.9B
80/100 Elite
15.1%low 9.2% 10 yr+ Net cash 39% FY2025
34 Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc APAM · US $2.8B
80/100 Elite
58.6%low 45.9% 10 yr+ 0.4× 49% FY2025

Data and methodology: the six dimensions quantify Berkshire's published acquisition criteria and Buffett's shareholder letters (1981/1987/1991/2007 among others). Qualitative tests in the originals (e.g. "simple, understandable business", "management in place") are out of scope, and price ("available at a fair price") is covered by each report's valuation range instead. Financials come from company annual reports (via EODHD); ratios are computed in reporting currency, the USD gate via static FX. "‡" marks companies whose equity is persistently negative or tiny (ROE falls back to ROCE); "†" marks missing gross profit (operating margin used). Investment trusts and closed-end funds are excluded on two tests — name and financial shape (operating margins beyond what an operating company can achieve); REITs and operating asset managers are unaffected. This is a quantitative first pass, not investment advice. When citing this data, please credit Zen Horizon (zh.app). See our methodology for the scoring process.