Warren Buffet’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway built a $277 billion cash pile after a stock-selling spree that most recently included halving its stake in iPhone maker Apple.
In a report made on Saturday, Berkshire unveiled that it has sold 390 million Apple shares in the past quarter after a previous sale of 115 million shares in early 2024. The company still owns around 400 million shares, which are worth $84.2 billion.
Berkshire initially unveiled it owned 908 million Apple shares back in 2016, paying $31.1 billion for the acquisition. It was the largest holding on the company’s portfolio for a long time, and it appeared that Berkshire might hold on to it for quite some time.
However, with the weakening U.S. economy and the uncertain status of the stock market, it appears that Berkshire is opting to exit some of its long positions in favor of cash.
“If you look at the entire Berkshire picture and the macroeconomic data, a safe conclusion is that Berkshire is getting defensive,” Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research, told Reuters.
Berkshire previously also liquidated a large portion of its holdings in Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD as well as U.S. banking giant Bank of America. Some experts believe the trend might continue in the future, considering the scope of the sell-off.