Buffett slashes Apple stake

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway extended their retreat from stocks in the third quarter, further slashing holdings in Apple and boosting cash to a record US$325.2 billion (HK$2.53 trillion).

In its quarterly report, Berkshire said it sold about 100 million, or 25 percent, of its Apple shares over the summer, ending with about 300 million.

Berkshire has now sold more than 600 million of the iPhone maker's shares in 2024, though Apple remained its largest stock holding, at US$69.9 billion. It sold US$36.1 billion of stock overall, including several billion dollars of Bank of America shares and bought just US$1.5 billion. That made the quarter the eighth straight where Berkshire was a net seller of stocks.

Meanwhile, Nvidia, which Buffett does not invest in, will join the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average index to replace Intel. The market also expects Meta - which Buffett also doesn't invest in - will be another Dow Jones component.

Reuters and staff reporter