Berkshire sells 390 million Apple shares

Stokes fears about broader US economy, high stock market valuations

NEW YORK:

Warren Buffett appears to have soured on stocks, letting cash at Berkshire Hathaway soar to nearly $277 billion and selling a large chunk of its stake in Apple, even as the conglomerate posted a record quarterly operating profit.

Berkshire’s results released on Saturday suggest the 93-year-old Buffett, one of the world’s most revered investors, is growing wary about the broader US economy, or stock market valuations that have gotten too high.

The results followed a stock market selloff that pushed the Nasdaq into correction territory, and a weak jobs report that sparked worries about US economic activity and whether the Federal Reserve waited too long to cut interest rates.

“If you look at the entire Berkshire picture and the macroeconomic data, a safe conclusion is that Berkshire is getting defensive,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research who rates Berkshire a “buy.” Berkshire sold about 390 million Apple shares in the second quarter, on top of 115 million shares from January to March, as Apple’s stock price rose 23%. It still owned about 400 million shares worth $84.2 billion as of June 30.

The cash stake grew to $276.9 billion from $189 billion three months earlier largely because Berkshire sold a net $75.5 billion of stocks. It was the seventh straight quarter Berkshire sold more stocks than it bought.

Berkshire also repurchased just $345 million of its own stock, down from $2.57 billion in the first quarter, and none in the first three weeks of July.

“Buffett doesn’t seem to think there are attractive opportunities in publicly traded stocks, including his own,” said Jim Shanahan, an Edward Jones analyst with a “hold” rating on Berkshire. “It makes me worry what he thinks about markets and the economy.”

Second-quarter profit from Berkshire’s dozens of businesses rose 15% to $11.6 billion, or about $8,073 per Class A share, from $10.04 billion a year earlier.