Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s cash pile rose to $325.2 billion in the third quarter, a record for the multinational conglomerate, after Chairman Warren Buffett continued to reduce some of his major stock holdings and refrained from major acquisitions. Berkshire Hathaway has renewed its stake in Tim Cook-led tech giant Apple Inc. phased out, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said in a statement Saturday.
The conglomerate’s stake in the iPhone maker was valued at $69.9 billion at the end of the quarter, compared with $84.2 billion in the second quarter, indicating the company has cut its stake by about 25 percent . Berkshire Hathaway first disclosed its stake in Apple in 2016, spending $31.1 billion on the 908 million Apple shares it owned through the end of 2021. Berkshire sold more than 600 million Apple shares in 2024, although it is still the largest stock holding.
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Berkshire sold a total of $36.1 billion worth of stock, including several billion dollars of Bank of America (BofA) stock, and bought just $1.5 billion, making this quarter the eighth straight quarter in which Berkshire was a net seller of shares. Berkshire didn’t buy back any shares for the first time since the second quarter of 2018, suggesting that Buffett doesn’t even consider his $975 billion conglomerate’s stock a bargain.
Buffett said in May that Apple was an “even better” company than two others in which Berkshire owns shares: American Express Co. and Coca-Cola Co. Apple was likely to remain in the top spot, indicating that tax issues had motivated the sale. but under the current circumstances I don’t mind building up the cash position at all,” he said. Berkshire was a net seller of stocks. The company reported $34.6 billion in net stock sales in the third quarter.
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The company has struggled to find ways to deploy its cash supply as Warren Buffett found market prices too high to find attractive deals. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in May 2024, Buffett said Berkshire was in no rush to spend money “unless we think we’re doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money.” Berkshire’s market value stands at $974.3 billion, surpassing the $1 trillion mark for the first time on August 28.
Berkshire Hathway Key Financials
Berkshire’s operating profit fell six percent from a year earlier to $10.09 billion, largely due to underwriting losses, including Hurricane Helene, and currency losses due to a strengthening U.S. dollar. Buffett has said the company’s results better reflect Berkshire’s performance.
Profit from the conglomerate’s insurance operations fell 69 percent to $750 million from $2.4 billion a year earlier, due to higher losses at Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group.
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Net income totaled $26.25 billion, reflecting unrealized gains on Berkshire’s stock investments, including Apple. In May, Buffett said he expected Apple to remain Berkshire’s largest stock investment, but selling made sense because the 21 percent federal tax rate on profits would likely rise. Berkshire also forecast $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in pre-tax losses in the fourth quarter due to Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida in October.
Buffett, 94, has led Berkshire since 1965 and is expected to hand the reins to Vice Chairman Greg Abel, 62. The conglomerate’s businesses include Berkshire Hathaway Energy, many industrial and manufacturing companies, a major real estate brokerage and retail companies such as Dairy Queen. and Fruit of the Loom. Berkshire’s Class A shares are up 25 percent this year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 is up 20 percent.
With input from Bloomberg and Reuters
