Berkshire Hathaway, under the guidance of "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett, has significantly reduced its position in Apple, the top heavy stock, from 0.79 billion shares to 0.4 billion shares, a decrease of about 49%. After the large-scale reduction in holdings of Apple stock, Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserves reached a record-breaking $276.9 billion.
Caixin reported on August 4th (Editor Xia Junxiong): Local time Saturday (August 3rd), "stock god" Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway released its Q2 2024 financial report. After the large-scale reduction in holdings of Apple stock, Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserves reached a record-breaking $276.9 billion.
The financial report shows that Berkshire Hathaway's Q2 revenue was $93.653 billion, compared with $92.503 billion in the same period last year and market expectations of $91.09 billion. Q2 net profit was $30.35 billion, compared with $35.912 billion in the same period last year and market expectations of $17.786 billion.
As of June 30th, 72% of Berkshire Hathaway's total fair value of equity investments is concentrated in five major companies: Apple ($84.2 billion), Bank of America ($41.1 billion), American Express ($35.1 billion), Coca-Cola ($25.5 billion), and Chevron ($18.6 billion).
Berkshire Hathaway net sold $75.5 billion of stocks in Q2, bringing its cash reserves to a record-breaking $276.9 billion, a significant increase from $189 billion in Q1. Among them, Berkshire Hathaway significantly reduced its position in Apple, the top heavy stock, from 0.79 billion shares to 0.4 billion shares, a decrease of about 49%.
Buffett is known for his long-term holdings of stocks, so this major sale is noteworthy. Berkshire Hathaway has already reduced its stake in Apple, selling 10 million shares of Apple stock, about 1% of its holdings, in Q4 2023. In Q1 2024, Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in Apple by 13%.
In the annual shareholder meeting in May this year, Buffett revealed the reason for his reduction in Apple positions. He said at the time that the expectation of rising US tax rates prompted him to take profits on his Apple holdings.
Up to now this year, Apple's stock price has risen by 14%, with a total market value of $0.335 billion, making it the most valuable company in the US stock market.
It is worth mentioning that Berkshire Hathaway has systematically reduced its position in Bank of America, its second largest heavy stock after Apple, in recent months.
Regulatory filings show that in the 12 trading days ending on Thursday (August 1st), Berkshire Hathaway sold about $3.8 billion worth of Bank of America stock.
In recent months, Bank of America's stock price has been rising, up 75% from its lows in October last year to when Berkshire Hathaway started selling in July.