Berkshire Hathaway bought 75 million additional Apple shares in the first three months of 2018, CEO Warren Buffett told CNBC on Thursday, signaling the billionaire investor's continuing confidence in Apple.

In February last year, Buffett revealed that his holding company held around 133 million shares in Apple prior to the company's record-breaking earnings results on January 31, 2017, worth over $17 billion at the time. Today it holds 240.3 million shares worth $42.5 billion.

warren buffett

"If you look at Apple, I think it earns almost twice as much as the second most profitable company in the United States," Buffett told CNBC.

Historically, Buffett has shied away from investing in technology companies, but the business magnate has suggested he sees Apple more as a consumer company. Reuters reports that Berkshire's latest Apple investment serves as a way of reducing the corporate group's $116 billion in cash and equivalents, without having to acquire a whole company.

Apple posted revenue of $61.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $13.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, up from revenue of $52.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.0 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple said it will start a new share buyback authorization of $100 billion following the record revenue and profit numbers.

Top Rated Comments

Constable Odo Avatar
88 months ago
It's really odd how some old guy like Warren Buffett understands how Apple is being run and he's not even into tech. I know he was saying that he's not buying Apple stock just for quarterly iPhone sales. He's looking at a longer term picture. Yet, there's always these analysts and investors fretting and crying over how many iPhones are being sold and consider it some sort of financial disaster if Apple comes up a million short in a single quarter. Shouldn't most companies be judged by product sales for a full year and not just quarter to quarter.

I realize Apple might not perform like the FANG stocks do when it comes to share gains. Apple doesn't appear to have any double-digit growth in revenue. Maybe those times are gone forever. Still, there's no reason for analysts to be telling people to dump Apple stock and buy FANG stocks. Saying something like that is so stupid. Apple gives out pretty decent dividends. Most companies don't have double-digit revenue growth so it's like analysts are telling investors not to invest in companies that can't provide double-digit revenue growth and that's most of the companies on the planet.

For the most part, Buffett seems like a rather smart and conservative investor who buys stock based on a company's fundamentals instead of just quarterly sales. He seems like he's into Apple for the long haul and I hope he is. It will be interesting to see if Apple is able to outlast any of the FANG stocks that Wall Street constantly praises.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamjackson Avatar
88 months ago
Lol and at the peak, Carl Icahn held 3 million shares, right? Goes to show how different these investors are. Berkshire buys 75 million, doesn't tell Apple how to run the show. Icahn holds 3 million and every week spouts off about how badly Apple is being operated.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nunyabinez Avatar
88 months ago
Lol and at the peak, Carl Icahn held 3 million shares, right? Goes to show how different these investors are. Berkshire buys 75 million, doesn't tell Apple how to run the show. Icahn holds 3 million and every week spouts off about how badly Apple is being operated.
That has been the secret to Buffet’s success. He buys companies that are doing awesome and then lets the people who got them there keep running them.

If a company needed help making decsisons, Buffet wouldn’t take a second look at them.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Solomani Avatar
88 months ago
Dear Mister Buffet, Your Awesomeness, Pre-eminent Duke of Apple:

Please bring back the Mac Pro. Please tell your company (AAPL) that they cannot keep ignoring those beautiful Macs. Please tell your company to make Siri a lot better, and more competitive. We gave up on Cook, but maybe you could Make Apple Great Again, sir! Thank you for listening. :p

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kingalexthe1st Avatar
88 months ago
It's really odd how some old guy like Warren Buffett understands how Apple is being run and he's not even into tech. I know he was saying that he's not buying Apple stock just for quarterly iPhone sales. He's looking at a longer term picture. Yet, there's always these analysts and investors fretting and crying over how many iPhones are being sold and consider it some sort of financial disaster if Apple comes up a million short in a single quarter. Shouldn't most companies be judged by product sales for a full year and not just quarter to quarter.

I realize Apple might not perform like the FANG stocks do when it comes to share gains. Apple doesn't appear to have any double-digit growth in revenue. Maybe those times are gone forever. Still, there's no reason for analysts to be telling people to dump Apple stock and buy FANG stocks. Saying something like that is so stupid. Apple gives out pretty decent dividends. Most companies don't have double-digit revenue growth so it's like analysts are telling investors not to invest in companies that can't provide double-digit revenue growth and that's most of the companies on the planet.

For the most part, Buffett seems like a rather smart and conservative investor who buys stock based on a company's fundamentals instead of just quarterly sales. He seems like he's into Apple for the long haul and I hope he is. It will be interesting to see if Apple is able to outlast any of the FANG stocks that Wall Street constantly praises.
Well said. Apple's P/E ratio is wonderfully low, and the fact it posts gains as it does for a $920 billion company is extraordinary. I think it's undervalued, and the only reason I'm not buying AAPL is because I'm already exposed to the tech sector and don't want to indulge.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IJ Reilly Avatar
88 months ago
Hmm, when these real professional type investors get involved it’s generally detrimental to ordinary shareholders - they’d much rather the stock cycled between $150 and $180 so they can buy and sell for a profit than it just keep going up...
This has never been Buffett's style. He's been a buy and hold "value" investor for decades, this is how he made his reputation and his billions. Now, suddenly he's a pumper and dumper? No, probably not.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Three Companies Are Now in the Running to Take Over the Apple Card

Thursday January 16, 2025 8:18 am PST by
Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony about becoming its new financial partner for the Apple Card, according to Reuters sources. The report today added that Apple has also been holding discussions with Chase Bank owner JPMorgan since last year, so there are at least three potential companies in the running to take over the Apple Card from current partner Goldman Sachs. Goldman...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
MacBook Air 15 Inch Feature Blue

MacBook Air Likely Apple's First Product Update of 2025: What to Expect

Wednesday January 15, 2025 8:49 am PST by
There is a good chance that Apple's first product announcement of 2025 will be updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip. Last month, Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models are coming this year (unsurprisingly). Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the new MacBook Air models will be announced "earlier" than some...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...