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The remarks from Buffett, chairman of Berkshire
Hathaway <BRKa.N>, come as several of his core holdings,
including International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N> and
Coca-Cola <KO.N>, have showed declining revenue trends in recent
years and their market positions aren't as impenetrable as they
once were, amid increased competition.
Buffett told CNBC that Berkshire had bought more shares of IBM
during the first quarter, and forecast higher earnings at the
company over the next 10 years.
He also praised IBM's stock buyback program, which he said had
been "enormously beneficial" for shareholders, though he
stressed that in general, buyback programs should be done based
on share price and not as an all-purpose strategy.
Coca-Cola continues to have a "strong competitive position," he
said.
Referring to the broader market, Buffett said equity valuation
would appear "on the high side" if interest rates were
normalized from their currently low levels, repeating comments
he had made over the weekend at the annual Berkshire Hathaway
meeting.
While he acknowledged that investors expect interest rates to
rise this year, he said it would be difficult for the United
States to raise rates "significantly" if European rates remained
low.
U.S. bonds, meanwhile, were "very overvalued," he said.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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