Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s firm has reportedly cut its stake in Apple by half.
As the Financial Times (FT) reported Saturday (Aug. 3), this reduction came as Buffett sold off $76 billion in stocks. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, reduced its Apple holdings by more than $50 billion to $84.2 billion during the second quarter, the report said.
The data indicates that Berkshire sold around 390 million Apple shares, or about half of its stake, per calculations by the FT. Selling the stocks gives Berkshire a record $277 billion in cash holdings, the report said.
Buffett began scaling back Berkshire’s Apple stake last year, and in May reduced it again by around 13%. The billionaire indicated at the time that the sale was connected to his wish to avoid a higher tax bill if rates go higher to cover an increasing U.S. fiscal deficit.
“It doesn’t bother me in the least to write that check and I would really hope with all that America’s done for all of you, it shouldn’t bother you that we do it and if I’m doing it at 21% this year and we’re doing it a little higher percentage later on, I don’t think you’ll actually mind the fact that we sold a little Apple this year,” Buffett said.
The sale came on the heels of Apple’s quarterly earnings report, which included some discussion of the company’s coming artificial intelligence (AI) features, dubbed Apple Intelligence.
“It will transform how users interact with technology, from writing tools to help you express yourself to image playground — which gives you the ability to create fun images and communicate in new ways — to powerful tools to summarize and prioritize notifications,” CEO Tim Cook said.
As Apple Intelligence evolves, he said, the company is weaving ChatGPT into experiences within iPhone, Mac and iPad, he said, adding that AI has “extraordinary possibilities.”
During the question-and-answer session with analysts, Cook argued that Apple Intelligence will offer a “compelling” reason for users to upgrade their devices.
As PYMNTS wrote, investor reaction to the report indicated “what might be termed a muted response to at least some of the numbers and the commentary. … Call it, perhaps a ‘show me’ reaction on the part of investors, particularly where AI is concerned.”
