Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm of billionaire Warren Buffett, has bought Apple again. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the company of what was once the richest man on the planet increased its stake in the iPhone maker by more than $3 billion, according to the latest Report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, a total of 333,856 share certificates were acquired. As a result, Berkshire Hathaway now owns nearly 900 million Apple shares with a current value of almost $140 billion, which accounts for 5.8 percent of the entire company.
Shares divested from key supplier
At the same time, however, the Buffett company sold shares in Apple’s most important supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). The Republic of China company manufactures the system-on-chip (SoC) for all major products from Cupertino, be it iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. Berkshire Hathaway bought TSMC shares for around $4.1 billion in 2022.
The investment company has now decided to reduce its stake by around 86 percent. Instead of the 60 million depositary receipts, Buffett now has 8.3 million through his company. Their combined value this week was around $617 million. The reason for the sale initially remained unclear – TSMC is currently suffering from the risk of a recession, fewer orders and Apple’s own problems with the Chinese supply chain, which had spoiled the group’s Christmas business with the iPhone.
Apple central to Buffett
Apple remains the key investment for Berkshire Hathaway — Buffett has never been as involved with any other public company. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Berkshire Hathaway only bought two other companies besides Apple – the media group Paramount Global and the building materials manufacturer Louisiana-Pacific. However, the investment firm reduced other positions, including those in banks. In the technology area, the share in Activision Blizzard was otherwise reduced.
With his billion-dollar stake, Buffett is also a big beneficiary of Apple’s dividend program. In September, it was announced that Buffett has raked in a total of $785 million since 2021 alone. The revenue should now have exceeded the billion mark.
(bsc)
