When Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway released its 2024 Q2 earnings on Saturday (August 3), the “Oracle” had a record $276.9bn cash pile after a massive Apple (AAPL.US) sell-off.
Berkshire’s Q2 revenue was $93.53bn, up from $92.5bn a year ago, and above the $91bn consensus; net income was $3.035bn, down from $3.591bn a year ago and below the $17.86bn consensus.
As of June 30, 72 per cent of Berkshire’s total public equity holdings were concentrated in the top five companies: Apple ($84.2bn), Bank of America ($41.1bn), American Express ($35.1bn), Coca-Cola ($25.5bn) and Chevron ($18.6bn).
Berkshire sold off $75.5bn of stock in Q2, pushing its cash pile to a record $276.9bn, up from $189bn in Q1. It sold off a massive 49 per cent of its Apple holdings, from 79m shares to 40m.
Berkshire’s large-scale selling is notable. The company has been selling Apple shares, and in the fourth quarter of 2023 it sold 10m shares, or about 1 per cent of its Apple holdings. Berkshire sold 13 per cent of its Apple holdings in Q1.
At Berkshire’s annual meeting in May, Mr Buffett said he had been “taking some profits” in Apple shares because of his expectation of higher US corporate tax rates.
Apple shares have risen 14 per cent this year to $335bn, making it the most valuable company in the US.
Berkshire has also been steadily selling Bank of America shares, its second-largest holding after Apple.
Regulatory filings show that Berkshire sold $3.8bn of Bank of America shares in the 12 trading days ending Thursday (August 1).
Bank of America shares have risen 75 per cent from their October 2022 lows to the point where Berkshire began selling them in July.