Buffett's Berkshire Sells 41M Apple Shares, 37M Bank of America Shares; Adds Alphabet to Portfolio in Q3

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has made significant moves in its investment portfolio during Q3, selling billions of dollars' worth of Apple and Bank of America shares, yet maintaining these as top holdings. The company also made notable acquisitions, including a substantial new stake in Alphabet, Google's parent company.

Major Sell-offs in Apple and Bank of America

During the quarter ending 30 September, Berkshire offloaded 41.7 million shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), valued at approximately $9.6 billion (£7.2 billion). This reduced its stake in Apple by 14.9%. At the same time, it decreased its holdings in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) by 6.1%, or 37.2 million shares, worth around $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion).

These sales continue a trend of reducing major tech stakes; Berkshire has cut its Apple holdings by over 70% in the past two years and decreased its Bank of America stake by 43% since early 2024. Despite the trimming, both stocks remain core components of Berkshire's portfolio.

In his recent Thanksgiving letter to shareholders, Buffett mentioned that he will be 'going quiet', but only 'sort of', hinting at a semi-retirement or reduced public profile as he approaches the end of his investing career.

A Surprising Tech Bet: Alphabet

The latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that, while Berkshire sold Apple shares, the company added over 17.8 million Class A shares of Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL), worth $3.7 billion (£2.8 billion).

Although Buffett often makes such significant trades, it's unclear who made the final call at Berkshire. The stock surged on the news, gaining over 48% year-to-date and more than 30% in Q3 alone.

Berkshire's Q3 earnings revealed revenue soared to over $102 billion (£77.5 billion) from $88.2 billion (£67 billion) a year earlier, driven by AI growth. The company noted its Gemini app now has over 650 million monthly active users and is aggressively investing to meet customer demand and seize growth opportunities.

'Our full stack approach to AI is delivering strong momentum, and we're shipping at speed, including the global rollout of AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search in record time... We continue to drive growth in new businesses. Google Cloud's backlog ended the quarter at $155 billion, and we have over 300 million paid subscriptions led by Google One and YouTube Premium,' said CEO Sundar Pichai.

Raising Stakes in SiriusXM and Chubb

In other major moves, Berkshire increased its stake in SiriusXM (Nasdaq: SIRI) by 4.2%, or over 5 million shares, worth $116.3 million (£88.4 million). Despite steady revenue and net income, the stock has remained muted this year amid valuation concerns.

Additionally, Berkshire bought 4.3 million shares of Chubb (NYSE: CB) valued at over $1.2 billion (£912.2 million), boosting its stake by nearly 16%. Berkshire now owns over 31 million shares of the global insurer. Chubb's stock has rallied following its strategy expansion plans and ongoing AI integration across its offerings.

Selling D.R. Horton and VeriSign in Q3

Last quarter, Berkshire sold its entire stake of nearly 1.5 million shares of D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) for $222.3 million (£168.9 million).

It also reduced its stake in VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN) by 32.3%, or 4.3 million shares, for over $1.2 billion.

Market Context

Buffett's big bet on Alphabet comes amid broader concerns of an AI bubble and recent sell-offs of the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks by major hedge funds. The moves reflect a strategic adjustment as Berkshire navigates a volatile market environment, balancing its traditional value investing approach with increased exposure to AI-driven growth.

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