The assets of a company can be either tangible or intangible and, on this point, Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett appear to have differences in importance.
WHAT BENJAMIN GRAHAM SAID ABOUT INTANGIBLE ASSETS
‘Earnings based on these intangibles [eg goodwill] may be even less vulnerable to competition than those which require only a cash investment in productive facilities.
'Furthermore, when conditions are favorable, the enterprise with the relatively small capital investment is likely to show a more rapid rate of growth.
Ordinarily it can expand its sales and profits at slight expense and therefore more rapidly and profitably for its stockholders than a business requiring a large plant investment per dollar of sales.’ Emphasis added.
HOW WARREN BUFFETT LOOKS AT INTANGIBLE ASSETS
This last comment of Graham has importance for Warren Buffett, who seems to really like companies with valuable, and sometimes irreplaceable, goodwill.
To Warren Buffett, it is this intangible good will, an asset that continually produces profits without the need to spend money on maintenance, upgrading or replacement, that adds value to a company.
Consider what it is that is most important in producing profits for Coca Cola: its name and recipe, or the various factories that produce the drink.
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