Warren Buffett speaks at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2025.
CNBC
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway may have secretly reduced its Apple stake again in the third quarter, new regulatory filings suggest.
Berkshire said in its latest quarterly report that its consumer products stock’s cost basis decreased by about $1.2 billion from the previous quarter. This category is dominated by positions held by the giant conglomerate Apple, suggesting that the decline likely reflects additional selling of Apple shares.
Apple’s stock price soared more than 24% in the third quarter, a rise that presents Mr. Buffett with an attractive opportunity to book profits.
Stock chart iconStock chart icon
Apple From the beginning of the year to today
Buffett sold off all of his Apple shares in 2024, cutting Berkshire’s stake by two-thirds in a surprising move for an investor known for his long-term focus. Berkshire also reduced its stake in Apple in the second quarter of this year. The iPhone maker remained Berkshire’s biggest holding at the end of June, with 280 million shares worth $57 billion.
Investors will get more clarity on the exact size of Apple’s position when Berkshire releases a detailed 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission later this month. As a result, changes in individual shareholdings will be disclosed until September 30th.
Buffett has previously hinted that the Apple stock sale was for tax reasons, and some speculated that the size of the sale suggested the so-called Oracle of Omaha was also concerned about Apple’s high valuation. Apple stock had become so large that at one point it accounted for more than half of Berkshire’s investment portfolio, leading some to think it was part of portfolio management.
Berkshire has been net selling for 12 consecutive quarters and raised more than $6 billion in cash in the third quarter. Mr. Buffett’s once-favorite stock market valuation metric, which measures the total value of U.S. publicly traded stocks relative to the country’s total national product, has soared to record highs, a level he once described as “playing with fire.”
