Buffett Brain · Research note
Score updated 21 May 2026
CBRE· Real Estate
CBRE Group
CBRE is the largest commercial real-estate services firm globally, but cyclical earnings and a 9.5% historical ROIC put it on the edge of unclear.
Buffett fit
Partial fit
Owner
50
Durability
51
Management
62
Price
50
Score updated 21 May 2026
Buffett's checklist
Each number against Buffett's bar, and where it ranks among Real Estate stocks in our database.
How much profit the business makes on each dollar invested in it. Higher is better.
What is left of each sale after the cost of making the product. A high number often means pricing power.
The cash the business earns for its owners, compared with the price of the whole company.
How fast sales grew each year over the last five years.
How many years of today's profit you pay for at today's price. Lower means cheaper.
How much the company owes compared with what it owns outright. Lower is safer.
The four pillars
How the business measures up on each of Buffett's four tests.
At 28.7x earnings CBRE is priced for a recovery in transaction activity that may or may not arrive.
The full reasoning comes with a free account.
Commercial real estate will need brokers, valuers and property managers in 2036.
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Share count is shrinking 2.9% per year, meaningful per-share value creation.
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Owner-earnings yield of 3.2% and EV/ of 33.8x are full prices. of 28.7x bakes in transaction recovery.
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For and against
The strongest points on each side, with the numbers behind them.
In its favor
6- 1Largest commercial real-estate services firm by revenue globally
- 2Five-year revenue CAGR of 10% reflects ongoing CRE consolidation
- 3Share count shrinking 2.9% per year drives per-share growth
- 4/Net Income of 1.03 confirms cash conversion is clean
Concerns
5- 1 of just 3.8% reflects services-business economics
- 2Trailing of 5.9% has compressed from 9.5% five-year average
- 3Five-year EPS CAGR of -8.3% reflects cyclical transaction-volume weakness
- 4 of 28.7x is full for a cyclical services business
Price history
$124+18.9%· 5-year return
Weekly closing prices. Touch or hover the line for a date.
The business
How the business works
CBRE runs commercial real-estate brokerage, property management, valuations and investment management across three segments: Advisory Services, Global Workplace Solutions and Real Estate Investments. The 35% and 3.8% reflect a services business where headcount and broker comp are most of the cost base. Revenue has compounded 10% per year over five years, but trailing EPS is down, the cyclical leasing and capital-markets segments are still recovering from the 2023-24 transaction freeze.
What other investors would say
The same company, judged by three other documented playbooks.
Keep researching
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