Berkshire Hathaway More Than Doubled its Stake in Apple in January - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Berkshire Hathaway More Than Doubled its Stake in Apple in January

by

In an interview with CNBC today, billionaire investor Warren Buffett revealed that his holding company Berkshire Hathaway held around 133 million shares in Apple prior to the company's record-breaking earnings results on January 31.

warren buffett
Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it held 57.3 million shares in Apple as of December 31, 2016, so it more than doubled its stake in the iPhone maker in January. The holding, which reflects about 2.5% of Apple's outstanding shares, is worth over $17 billion if the shares are still held today.

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a nearly $1 billion stake in Apple last May, which led the iPhone maker's stock to soar 9% once the investment became public knowledge. Apple stock has been on the rise since then, closing at an all-time high of $137.11 last week just nine months after setting a 52-week low of $89.47 in May 2016.

Top Rated Comments

djcerla Avatar
120 months ago
The holding, which reflects about 2.5% of Apple's outstanding shares

this is absolutely bonkers: AAPL is now Buffett's second holding after Coca-Cola. Excellent news for the stock.

Buffett also praised Tim Cook, and rightly so. 2017 will be an amazing year for Apple and AAPL.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
120 months ago
I took CNBC guest's words at face value. If that's the case, then wow.
Understood. Berkshire has held 400 million shares (split-adjusted) of KO for a long time. It's currently trading at less than $42, so that's less than $17 billion worth of Coca-Cola. If Berkshire now holds 133 million shares of AAPL (which is what Mr. Buffett indicated this morning), at around $137 that's more than $18 billion worth.
[doublepost=1488208016][/doublepost]To add a little more to what Mr. Buffett said about Apple this morning...

He indicated that Berkshire wasn't currently buying AAPL, that it hadn't bought AAPL since the earnings report. He also indicated that it was at a different price now than he would buy it at.

Also, for those that have suggested it wasn't Mr. Buffett deciding to buy AAPL: We got considerable clarity on that front this morning. Mr. Buffett said that one of those other guys (Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, he wouldn't say which one) had bought 10 million shares of AAPL and Mr. Buffett has now bought 123 million shares of AAPL. That's Mr. Buffett's own characterization of the situation.

Perhaps the funniest thing Mr. Buffett had to say came in response to Becky Quick asking which company Mr. Buffett would bet on going to a $1 Trillion market cap first - Berkshire or Apple. Mr. Buffett said Apple and then proceeded to jokingly say (I'm paraphrasing a bit)... If Tim wants to swap straight up, I've got an 800 number for him. In other words, he'd swap Berkshire Hathaway straight up for Apple if he had that option.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bart Kela Avatar
120 months ago
I wish I was rich enough to make money off other people's successes.
Warren Buffett started in the same fashion as you: with nothing.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IJ Reilly Avatar
120 months ago
Can you explain further what you mean between Buffett and luck?
Gosh, you'd only have to ask him. One of Buffett's more admirable traits is the rare personal humility that allows him to admit that luck was a big part of his success.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
120 months ago
I wish I was rich enough to make money off other people's successes.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macaholic868 Avatar
120 months ago
The Oracle of Omaha has spoken.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

M5 Vision Pro Thumb 2

Apple Has Given Up on the Vision Pro After M5 Refresh Flop

Wednesday April 29, 2026 11:31 am PDT by
Apple has all but given up on the Vision Pro after the M5 model failed to revitalize interest in the device, MacRumors has learned. Apple updated the Vision Pro with a faster M5 chip and a more comfortable band in October 2025, but there were no other hardware changes, and consumers still weren't interested. The Vision Pro has been criticized for its high price tag and its uncomfortable...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro to Launch in September With These 10 New Features

Tuesday April 28, 2026 9:35 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
airpods pro 3 design

'AirPods Ultra' Rumored to Feature a Major Upgrade Over AirPods Pro

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:40 am PDT by
In a social media post this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Apple is planning to release new AirPods with cameras "for Siri." Last month, Gurman said these AirPods will likely be priced above the current AirPods Pro 3, which Apple sells for $249. As a result, he said Apple is likely considering using "AirPods Ultra" branding for the camera-equipped AirPods. "AirPods Ultra"...