Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has sold half of its Apple holdings, further reducing its position in the company.
The investment firm reduced its stake in the technology giant by more than $50 billion (£39 billion) to $84.2 billion (£65.7 billion) in the second quarter, according to documents released over the weekend.
Berkshire sold around 390 million Apple shares, generating an after-tax profit of $47.2 billion (£36.9 billion), according to calculations by the Financial Times. The company has already sold 115 million Apple shares from January to March.
The sell-off has pushed Berkshire’s cash reserves to a record $277 billion (£216.3 billion), up $88 billion (£68.7 billion) from the previous quarter, with much of that going into short-term government bonds.
It is part of a major $76 billion (£59.3 billion) share sale by Berkshire. Since mid-July, the conglomerate has offloaded more than $3.8 billion (£3 billion) worth of Bank of America shares, its second-largest equity holding.
Investment mogul Buffett, often hailed as the Sage of Omaha for his investment foresight, began reducing Berkshire’s position in Apple late last year and accelerated the stock sale in early 2024.
Apple recently beat earnings and revenue forecasts but continued to struggle in China, where sales fell 6.5 percent. Shares are up 18.4 percent year-to-date and nearly 21 percent over the past year.
Although Apple has now announced its new Apple Intelligence platform, Apple has lagged behind other technology companies in artificial intelligence (AI) announcements and transparency, raising concerns among some investors.
Apple has been a cornerstone of Berkshire’s portfolio in recent years, although Buffett and his late partner Charlie Munger were initially hesitant to invest in technology companies and had previously expressed regret at missing out on the rise of blue-chip companies like Google.
But in 2016, their stance changed and Berkshire has since invested around $40 billion (£31.2 billion) in Apple shares.
The American billionaire assured his shareholders in May that Apple remains an important long-term investment.
“Unless something dramatic happens that really changes our capital allocation strategy, Apple will remain our largest investment,” Buffett said at the company’s annual meeting.
“But I have no objection at all to building a cash position under the current conditions. When I look at the alternatives available in the equity markets and when I look at the composition of what’s going on in the world, we find that quite attractive,” he added.
