Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway slashes Apple stake by almost 50%
CBSN
Investor Warren Buffett 's company recorded a $47 billion gain on stock sales during the second quarter as he slashed Berkshire Hathaway's massive Apple stake, but a drop in the paper value of its remaining investments drug down earnings despite improvements in the myriad companies it owns.
Selling off a big chunk of its Apple holdings was the quarter's biggest news — Buffett once called the company's stake in the iPhone maker a pillar of Berkshire's business that he intended to hold indefinitely. The other major investment moves Buffett made during the quarter included continued cuts to its investment in Chinese EV maker BYD and selling off some of its Bank of America stock.
Berkshire didn't give an exact count of its Apple shares in Saturday's report, but it estimated the investment was worth $84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter even though shares soared over the summer as high as $237.23. At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire's Apple stake was worth $135.4 billion.
