Warren Buffett speaks during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 4, 2024.
CNBC
Warren Buffett sold another big chuck of his Apple stake, downsizing Berkshire Hathaway‘s biggest equity holding for four quarters in a row.
The Omaha-based conglomerate held $69.9 billion worth of Apple shares at the end of September, according to its third-quarter earnings report released Saturday morning. That implied Buffett offloaded approximately a quarter of his stake with about 300 million shares remaining in the holding. In total, the stake is down 67.2% from the end of the third quarter last year.
The Oracle of Omaha started trimming his stake in the iPhone maker in the fourth quarter of 2023 and ramped up selling in the second quarter when he surprisingly dumped nearly half of the bet.
Apple, YTD
It’s unclear what exactly motivated the continuous selling in the stock Berkshire first bought more than eight years ago. Analysts and shareholders had speculated it was due to high valuations as well as portfolio management to reduce concentration. Berkshire’s Apple holding was once so big that it took up half of its equity portfolio.
In May at the Berkshire annual meeting, Buffett hinted that the selling was for tax reasons as he speculated that the tax on capital gains could be raised in the future by a U.S. government wanting to plug a climbing fiscal deficit. However, the magnitude of the sales made many believe it could be more than just a tax-saving move.
Amid the big selling spree, Berkshire’s cash hoard reached $325.2 billion in the third quarter, an all-time high for the conglomerate.
Class A shares of Berkshire have gained 25% this year, outpacing the S&P 500’s 20.1% year-to-date return. The conglomerate crossed a $1 trillion market cap milestone in the third quarter when it hit an all-time high.
Apple shares are up 16% on the year, trailing the S&P 500’s 20% gain.
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Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Novo Nordisk — The stock jumped about 5%, rebounding from the nearly 18% losses seen in the previous session. On Friday, the Danish pharmaceutical giant’s experimental weight loss drug, CagriSema, reported late-stage trial results that missed expectations . Honda – U.S.-listed shares surged 15% after the company officially began merger talks with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. The automakers plan to conclude discussions in June 2025. Xerox — The document services provider added nearly 7% after announcing its acquisition of printer maker Lexmark. The deal is worth $1.5 billion. Occidental Petroleum , Sirius XM , VeriSign — The stocks continued to rise in Monday’s premarket after Warren Buffett disclosed last week that his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate added to its stake in each name. Occidental and Sirius XM each climbed more than 2%, while VeriSign advanced 1.8%. Tesla — The electric vehicle maker bounced 3% before the bell, regaining some ground after last week’s decline. Tesla slid 3.5% last week, which marked its worst weekly performance since before the U.S. presidential election. Despegar.com — Shares soared 32% after Prosus entered into a definitive agreement to buy the Argentina-based online travel platform for $19.50 per share. Prosus will pay $1.7 billion as part of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025. Traws Pharma — Shares of the clinical-stage virology company skyrocketed more than 76% after it announced progress in the development of its treatment for H5N1 bird flu. The company said tivoxavir marboxil showed safety and tolerability in the phase 1 trial, and it will begin a phase 2 study early next year. The news comes as the threat of bird flu is expected to rise. Immunocore — The biotech stock rose more than 5% on word that the first patient has been dosed with its experimental immunotherapy treatment, IMC-0115C. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Christina Cheddar Berk contributed reporting
Investors may want to consider adding exposure to the world’s second-largest emerging market.
According to EMQQ Global founder Kevin Carter, India’s technology sector is extremely attractive right now.
“It’s the tip of the spear of growth [in e-commerce] … not just in emerging markets, but on the planet,” Carter told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.
His firm is behind the INQQ The India Internet ETF, which was launched in 2022. The India Internet ETF is up almost 21% so far this year, as of Friday’s close.
‘DoorDash of India’
One of Carter’s top plays is Zomato, which he calls “the DoorDash of India.” Zomato stock is up 128% this year.
“One of the reasons Zomato has done so well this year is because the quick commerce business blanket has exceeded expectations,” Carter said. “It now looks like it’s going to be the biggest business at Zomato.”
Carter noted his bullishness comes from a population that is just starting to go online.
“They’re getting their first-ever computer today basically,” he said, “You’re giving billions of people super computers in their pocket internet access.”