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

MacBook Pro Low Angle Wide Lens

Apple to Launch 'MacBook Ultra' With These Six New Features

Friday April 24, 2026 10:32 am PDT by
While the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro were just updated with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips last month, bigger changes are reportedly around the corner. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the higher-end MacBook Pro models will be receiving a major redesign by early 2027, and he said that Apple might use "MacBook Ultra" branding for them. If so, the MacBook Ultra would likely be a...
Apple TV Thumb 3

Here's What's Coming in the 2026 Apple TV

Thursday April 23, 2026 12:08 pm PDT by
There are a lot of folks waiting for a new version of the Apple TV because the set-top box hasn't been updated since 2022. There is an update coming this year, but people will need to wait a bit longer because Apple is holding the next Apple TV until the new version of Siri comes out this fall. Design Apple TV design updates don't happen often, and that's not changing in 2026. The next...
Apple Maps General

Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO

Thursday April 23, 2026 5:29 am PDT by
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has named the botched 2012 launch of Apple Maps as his "first really big mistake" in the role, according to a Bloomberg report covering the town hall meeting that was held Tuesday with his recently announced successor, John Ternus. The Maps app launched with mislabeled landmarks, faulty directions, and a user experience that fell well short of Google Maps at the...