Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has taken another bite out of its huge holdings in Apple Inc. stock.
The Omaha, Nebraska company reported its third quarter results Saturday, noting a $69.9 billion stake of Apple Inc. shares. That indicates Berkshire reduced its holdings in the company by about 25% of the 400 million Apple shares it arrived with heading into the third quarter.
Berkshire held slightly more than 900 million Apple shares at the end of last year. Even with this sale, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest stockholding.
The sell-off isn’t necessarily an indication of a loss of faith by Berkshire in Apple, the makers of the new iPhone 16. As recently as May, Chairman and CEO Buffett told his annual meeting that Apple was “an even better business” than two of his other big holdings, American Express and his beloved Coca-Cola.
Reports indicate that the lauded investment guru hinted at that meeting of a tax reason for slashing the Apple stake. It also comes before the potential shakeup of the 2024 election and a potentially changing regulatory environment under the next administration.
Apple shares are up 16% this year and trading near records.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Chris Bloomstran, president and chief investment officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group, as saying he expected Berkshire’s third-quarter Apple stock sales.
Bloomstran said Apple’s stock is “trading at a price at which Warren determined the economics don’t merit as big of a position as it was,” Bloomstran explained.
Berkshire’s mountain of cash grew to a record $325.2 billion, including equivalents, at the end of September, the company’s financial statements show. The cash allows Berkshire the freedom to explore other acquisitions. Berkshire’s market value crossed $1 trillion earlier this year, but has recently traded below that level.
Berkshire also reduced its Bank of America position in the third quarter, and the WSJ said it continued to do so in October. Since Berkshire owned more than 10% of the bank, it was required to quickly report trades. But it is now below that standard, and may not reveal further sales of the bank’s stock until a Form 13F filing in February.
The holding company owns and operates businesses including insurer Geico, BNSF Railway and sportswear manufacturer Brooks Running.
Berkshire posted net income of $26.3 billion, or $18,272 class A share equivalent, for the third quarter. That’s up from the year-earlier for the period, when it reported a net loss of $12.8 billion, or $8,824 a share.
But operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, fell to $10.1 billion from $10.8 billion last year. Blame was placed on weaker results from insurance underwriting, hurt by estimated losses from Hurricane Helene. Berkshire also said fourth-quarter earnings will reflect losses from Hurricane Milton that could be between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion before taxes.
