One of my favorite value investor’s is Jean-Marie Eveillard. In his interview with the Graham & Doddsville Newsletter, Eveillard reminds us that Warren Buffett’s approach isn’t about rigid formulas—it’s about understanding what makes a business truly durable.
As Eveillard puts it, Buffett’s genius lies in figuring out the “three, four, or five major characteristics of a business” that give it an edge. And sometimes, Wall Street completely misses the point.
Take newspapers in the 1970s. Buffett saw their strength wasn’t in rising circulation (which was flat) but in their quasi-monopoly power. Local stores had to advertise in them, margins were high, and they weren’t capital-intensive.
Yet, as Eveillard notes, Wall Street dismissed them because they “were not growth companies.” Sound familiar? Today, we see the same shortsightedness with stocks labeled “value” or “growth” as if they’re opposites. But Buffett’s view is clearer: “Value and growth are joined at the hip.”
Too many investors chase explosive growth, assuming a company’s worth is tied to its next earnings spike. But as Eveillard highlights, Buffett and Graham knew the future is too uncertain to bet on. Instead, they looked for businesses with moats—competitive advantages that ensure profits hold up “five or ten years down the road.”
Buffett “never insisted on 20%-25% growth,” Eveillard points out. In fact, a business “can have value even if it’s not growing.” That’s a radical idea in a market obsessed with hypergrowth. But think about it: How many companies actually sustain 25% annual growth for decades? Almost none. Meanwhile, steady, profitable businesses—even in “mundane” industries—compound wealth quietly.
Eveillard nails it when he says value investors think like private equity buyers: They want “stable and profitable businesses,” not lottery tickets. That’s why Buffett could ignore Wall Street’s panic over newspapers’ stagnant circulation. He wasn’t betting on headlines; he was betting on economics—the kind that lets a business thrive whether GDP grows 3% or 0%.
The lesson? Judge a business by its durability, not just its growth rate. As Eveillard’s quotes show, Buffett’s success came from spotting the rare companies where “the odds are good” that profits would stick around. That’s the real edge—not predicting the next hot trend, but recognizing what already works.
You can find the entire interview here:
Jean-Marie Eveillard Interview – Graham & Doddsville
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