Buffett’s Apple Stock Holding Slashed By 60% This Year

When a company as large as Berkshire Hathaway – it boasts of a cash pile of around A$493.22 billion – cuts its holding in one of the world’s most valuable companies by around 60 per cent in only a few months, shareholders are forced to take notice.

Berkshire Hathaway has continued sales of its Apple shares in the third quarter as it cut its holdings in the iPhone manufacturer by roughly 25 per cent in the period, after decreasing it by nearly half in the second quarter.

Berkshire’s Apple holdings are now valued at around A$106.02 billion, versus A$263.9 billion at the end of last year.

Warren Buffett hinted at Berkshire’s annual meeting in May that the sales of Apple in the first quarter were partly motivated by tax implications, but that the tech giant would remain the largest investment for Berkshire, according to Bloomberg.

Last week, as Apple revealed its latest quarterly results, its shares slid 2 per cent with analysts concerned about its holiday sales forecast. That, coupled with a hefty A$21.55 European tax bill and a softening of China sales is weighing on the company.

All of that hasn’t stopped Apple from pursuing acquisitions. Last week, it agreed to buy software maker Pixelmator, a high-end photo-editing app.

“We’ve been inspired by Apple since day one,” Pixelmator said in the blog post. “Now, we’ll have the ability to reach an even wider audience.”

The Pixelmator Pro app includes advanced editing tools similar to those offered by Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator and Canva such as layers and vectors.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. In Australia, the Pixelmator Pro costs A$79.99.

With Apple Intelligence having been rolled out recently among some devices internationally – Australia will only receive it in December – Apple could perhaps be looking at ways to integrate Pixelmator’s functions into its suite of new AI features.