Everyone knows that famed investor Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B), loves banks. The company's portfolio is rife with them. Plus, Berkshire just made three large investments in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) -- together constituting one of Buffett's biggest moves during the coronavirus pandemic.
Because the banking sector is so closely tied to the economy, the industry has fared worse than others. The KBW Bank Index, which tracks large bank stocks, is still down more than 31% since late February. With two full quarters of the pandemic now in the books, I figured it would be a good time to look at which of Buffett's banks are performing best through the pandemic.
I chose to focus on the top five bank holdings: Bank of America, American Express (NYSE: AXP), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) . I then ranked the banks in order based upon earnings performance on a year-over-year basis, stock price since the beginning of 2020, and allowance for loan losses to ensure banks are being conservative enough.