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Apple shares drop 7% after Buffett’s Berkshire slashes stake by half

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Warren Buffett walks the floor ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

David A. Grogen | CNBC

Warren Buffett sent shockwaves through the investing world over the weekend by slashing his big Apple stake by half, causing the tech stock to crater on Monday amid the intensifying global sell-off.

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in its earnings filing that its Apple holding was valued at $84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, indicating that the Oracle of Omaha dumped a little more than 49% of the tech stake.

Shares of Apple dropped more than 7% in premarket trading Monday. Global stock markets are on the brink of a major correction, triggered by concerns of an economic slowdown.

The 93-year-old legendary investor has been on a massive selling spree, offloading more than $75 billion in equities in the second quarter and raising Berkshire’s cash pile to a whopping $277 billion, an all-time high for the conglomerate. Buffett also started selling his second-biggest holding Bank of America in July.

Buffett had already sold 13% of his Apple stake in the first quarter and he indicated previously that it was a tax-saving move as he expected the U.S. government to raise the rate to fund a burgeoning fiscal deficit. However, the magnitude of the second-quarter sale could mean tax was not the only motivating factor.

Berkshire began buying the stock in 2016 under the influence of Buffett’s investing lieutenants Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Over the years, Buffett grew so fond of Apple that he increased the stake drastically to make it Berkshire’s biggest and called the tech giant the second-most important business after his cluster of insurers.

Berkshire’s Apple holding grew so big that it once took up half its equity portfolio, so the selling could also be out of portfolio management concerns.

Shares of Apple climbed 23% to a record high in the second quarter amid renewed optimism surrounding its artificial intelligence capabilities.

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Senators grill Trump CFPB pick, Jonathan McKernan: ‘Good luck’

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Jonathan McKernan, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sits on the day he testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2025. 

Annabelle Gordon | Reuters

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday withstood grilling from Democrat senators who repeatedly asked him to confirm that he would uphold his legal obligations to run the agency.

Pressed by senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jonathan McKernan, a former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation board member, told lawmakers he would “fully and faithfully” enforce laws related to the CFPB’s mission.

“My legal career started just as the 2008 financial crisis was beginning,” McKernan said. “Watching that crisis unfold left me with an enduring conviction that we must have a financial regulatory system that works for everyday Americans. Consumer protection is critical to that end.”

Still, McKernan made it clear that he disagreed with how predecessor Rohit Chopra ran the agency. In opening remarks, he said that the CFPB “acted in a politicized manner,” exceeded its legal authority, hurt consumers by inadvertently raising prices and suffered from a “crisis of legitimacy.”

“This must be corrected if the CFPB is to reliably do what it’s supposed to do: look out for the American consumer,” said McKernan, a former corporate banking lawyer and Senate aide.

Since acting CFPB Director Russell Vought took over this month, the agency has shuttered its Washington headquarters, fired about 200 employees and told those who remain to stop nearly all work. Those moves, along with an allegation from a CFPB union that Vought intends to fire more than 95% of the agency’s staff, has spurred fears that the agency faces extinction.

Earlier Thursday, the CFPB dismissed at least four enforcement lawsuits, including actions against Capital One and a Berkshire Hathaway unit.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks at a rally outside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Feb. 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. 

Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images

Warren pressed McKernan on if he would uphold CFPB’s statutory requirements, including having a website and toll-free line for consumer complaints, as well as maintaining advocacy offices for military veterans and senior citizens.

“Each of the offices I think you mentioned is mandated by statute,” McKernan said. “Yes, I’ll follow the law.”

Rattling off a list of public comments and steps made by the Trump administration that indicate the bureau could be shuttered entirely, Warren questioned how effective McKernan could be.

“It kind of feels like you’ve been lined up to be the No. 1 horse at the glue factory,” Warren said.

For his part, McKernan said that if confirmed by the Senate, he would “right-size” the CFPB, as well as “refocus it” and “make it accountable.”

Sen. Jack Reed, D.-R.I., followed up, adding that Vought has canceled the lease on the agency’s headquarters and dismissed cases against “predatory lenders.” Reed also mentioned reporting that both Trump and Vought, who is also head of the Office of Management and Budget, want to eliminate the bureau.

“You’re going to be placed in a very difficult position,” Reed said. “You do not appear to have much presidential support or OMB support, and I have this sinking feeling that you’re departing Liverpool on the Titanic. Good luck.”

McKernan didn’t verbally respond to Reed’s comment, only smiling ruefully while nodding slightly.

Really worried CFPB scale down will be unfair for many, says former CFPB director Rohit Chopra

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: NVDA, SNOW, RYCEY

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