Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sells half of its Apple stock

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has reduced its stake in Apple by nearly half to $84.2 billion, according to an SEC filing.

Although Apple remains the company’s largest shareholding, Buffett reduced his stake by 13 percent earlier this year, indicating he doesn’t mind selling “a little bit of Apple” for tax reasons.

According to Financial Times calculations, Berkshire Hathaway made a huge profit from this sale; Buffett had largely avoided technology investments before buying Apple shares in 2016. This could be a sign that Buffett has lost some faith in Apple, or that he may be in a mood to sell – he is also selling other stocks, for example $3.8 billion worth of shares in Bank of America.

The filing comes after Apple announced its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, citing iPad growth as a bright sign while global iPhone sales declined for the second consecutive quarter, due in part to competition from companies such as Huawei in China.

CEO Tim Cook said the company is shifting resources to prepare for the launch of Apple Intelligence — a set of AI features it plans to release in the autumn.