Buffett Brain · Research note
Score updated 23 Oct 2026 · analysis from 18 May 2026
CM· Financial Services
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
CIBC posts strong gross margins typical of a Canadian bank, but a -17.2% owner-earnings yield and 0.36 interest coverage make the financial-health pillar fail outright.
Buffett fit
Weak fit
Owner
36
Durability
77
Management
37
Price
36
Score updated 23 Oct 2026 · analysis from 18 May 2026
Buffett's checklist
Each number against Buffett's bar, and where it ranks among Financial Services 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.
Owning CIBC for a decade is owning a regulated Canadian deposit franchise with revenue growing 27.8% per year (heavily distorted by interest-rate normalization) but EPS only 5.4%.
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Canadian banks have not let an owner down in 150 years, none have failed.
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Share count creep of 1.0% per year reflects mild dilution. of 2.66 is high (typical for banks).
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At 15.1x earnings and a 6.6% earnings yield, CIBC looks cheaply priced, but the bank-specific metrics carry warnings.
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For and against
The strongest points on each side, with the numbers behind them.
In its favor
4- 152.3% reflects oligopoly deposit franchise economics
- 2 of 15.1 and earnings yield of 6.6% offer modest value support
- 3Canadian banking oligopoly has zero bank failures in modern history
- 4Revenue grew 27.8% over five years as interest rates normalized
Concerns
6- 1Five-year of 1.9% indicates poor capital efficiency, even by bank standards
- 2Interest coverage of 0.36x and net-debt/EBITDA of 12.8x score zero on health pillar
- 3/NI of -290% reflects deep bank accounting complexity Buffett tends to avoid
- 4Share count up 1.0% per year, owners get diluted slowly
Price history
$115+89.7%· 5-year return
Weekly closing prices. Touch or hover the line for a date.
The business
How the business works
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is one of the Big Five Canadian banks, with concentrated personal/commercial banking in Canada and a growing U.S. commercial bank. The 52.3% and 21.6% are typical bank P&L geometry, net interest income minus credit costs and opex. Five-year of 1.9% sits well below Buffett's threshold because banks are machines that consume capital. data registers as negative on a normalized basis because of how bank balance sheets work.
What other investors would say
The same company, judged by three other documented playbooks.
Keep researching
Similar companies in Financial Services
Questions about Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Is Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce undervalued?
- Would Buffett buy Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce?
- How strong is Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's competitive advantage?
- Is Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce financially healthy?
- Is Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's dividend safe?
- Is Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce halal?
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