Berkshire Hathaway had already sold 13% of Apple shares in the first quarter of this year and, according to a new SEC filingWarren Buffet has now sold nearly half of the tech giant’s shares, making it a huge payday for the 93-year-old investor. The move comes just days after the California-based company released its third-quarter 2024 earningswhere it generated a net profit of US$21.4 billion.
The move is surprising given that Apple pocketed billions during its Q3 2024 earnings call
The Omaha-based conglomerate revealed in its latest filing that Apple’s stock was valued at $84.2 billion at the end of the quarter, having fallen from 790 million shares to 400 million. Warren Buffer is known for holding onto stocks for long periods of time, so the timing of the liquidation definitely deviates from his typical practices. Given that Apple’s iPhone revenue declined slightly this quarter, it’s possible that Buffer no longer believes the company has the ability to maintain its dominant position, or perhaps he was simply in the mood to short the stock.
Unfortunately, Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and CEO has yet to comment on the latest move. With the latest sale, the US multinational holding company now has a cash hoard of $277 billion, and Apple still remains the company’s largest holding. Additionally, Berkshire Hathaway cut its stake in its second-largest position, Bank of America, to $41.1 billion, with the third-largest holding being American Express at $35.1 billion, followed by Coca-Cola at $25.5 billion and Chevron at $18.6 billion.
Despite iPhone revenue being lower than the previous quarter and the same period last year, Apple posted an impressive performance Increased annual revenue for its iPad business by 24 percentbecoming the highest for any of the company’s segments in the third quarter of 2024. Apple CEO Tim Cook also stated during the earnings call that Apple’s intelligence spending has increased as the company prepares to launch a full suite of generative AI capabilities later this year for compatible devices. Looking at what the company has in the pipeline, it’s puzzling that Warren Buffet would sell nearly half of the shares, but we may find out soon enough.