Berkshire’s cash soars to $325 billion as Buffett sells Apple stake
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile soared to a record $325.2 billion in the third quarter after chairman Warren Buffett slashed their holdings in Apple.
The company has sold $36.1 billion of stock in total, which included several billion dollars of Bank of America (BofA) shares. Whereas it bought just $1.5 billion in stock. This marks the eighth straight quarter in which Berkshire was a net seller of stocks.
The conglomerate continued to slice its stake in Apple from $84.2 billion in the second quarter to $69.9 billion at the end of the third quarter, indicating a cut of about 25 percent. The company has now sold more than 600 million of the iPhone maker’s shares in 2024. In spite of the cut, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest stock holding.
Berkshire had first disclosed its stake in Apple in 2016, with the company having spent $31.1 billion on the 908 million Apple shares it held through the end of 2021.
Berkshire did not repurchase its own stock, marking the first time since the second quarter of 2018. This suggests that Buffet does not view shares of his own $975 billion conglomerate as a bargain. The company had said in May that he expected Apple to remain its largest stock investment but selling made sense because the 21 percent federal tax rate on the gains would likely grow.
Berkshire’s Q3 results
Berkshire reported a 6 percent decline in quarterly operating profit, hurt by higher insurance underwriting liabilities including Hurricane Helene, and currency losses from a strengthening US dollar. The factors more than offset improved profitability at the Geico car insurer where accident claims and expenses fell.
The company has projected $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion of pre-tax losses in the coming quarter from Hurricane Milton, which slammed into Florida in October.
Net income for the quarter totaled $26.25 billion, compared with a loss of $12.77 billion for the corresponding period when falling stock prices reduced the value of Berkshire’s investments. Buffet said the operating results better reflect the company’s performance.
