Charles Martin
Financial firm Berkshire Hathway has spent a year reducing its shares of AAPL stock, which once took up half of chairman Warren Buffett's entire portfolio.
For the fiscal third quarter 2024, which ended on September 30, Buffett still held $69.9 billion in AAPL, or around 300 million shares. One year ago, his firm had four times as many shares in the iPhone maker.
Berkshire Hathaway has given no reason for the year-long selloff, though other financial analysts have speculated that Buffett may consider the stock overvalued. AAPL is up 20 percent for the year so far, which compares to the average performance of the S&P 500 overall for 2024.
Buffett and his managers have been selling Apple stock for across last four quarters. Buffett himself has suggested that he believes a higher tax on capital gains is coming.
The rise and fall of Buffett's AAPL holdings
Currently, AAPL is hovering between $220 and $230 per share, up significantly from a 2024 low of $165. Buffett first began buying stock in the iPhone maker in 2016, having previously mostly avoided investments in technology firms.
Apple stock quickly became a mainstay of Berkshire Hathaway's fund over the years, at one point reaching a $170 billion-plus stake in the company. In mid-2024, the firm surprised markets when it dumped half of its previous Apple holdings in a single quarter.
Buffett has frequently said he "fell in love" with Apple because of the loyalty customers have for the brand, alongside the massive success of the iPhone in particular. However, selling the stock has helped Berkshire Hathaway amass a cash hoard of some $352 billion, the highest the firm has ever held.
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19 Comments
There's a ton of risk in the world right now. It makes sense to me to sell a stock that is highly exposed to China/Taiwan risk. It also makes sense to want to build up cash reserves.
It's encouraging that Apple has been able to increase production in India and that it's becoming feasible to produce Apple Silicon in Arizona. But there's still a long way to go. Maybe Buffet will return to AAPL once Apple has reached a point where they could credibly survive without the Chinese supply chain.
I wonder if it makes more sense to invest in companies that build physical things in North America -- construction, infrastructure, defense, manufacturing.
Buffett isn’t getting any younger. It could be related to estate prep.
New mgrs are running Berkshire. Munger is dead and Buffett is 94. Buffet is not involved
The reason is literally in the first sentence of this article: "Financial firm Berkshire Hathway has spent a year reducing its shares of AAPL stock, which once took up half of chairman Warren Buffett's entire portfolio."
This the same firm that exited a large position in TSM when it was under $100/share before it more than doubled. They also exited IBM before the run up, and sold airlines at the bottom in 2020. Plenty of examples of poor decisions, as all investors have. The fact that the firm sold more shares doesn’t seem to reflect negative stock performance — if anything, it probably means the stock will grind higher.