Buffett surprises mkts with Apple stake cut

Omaha (Nebraska): BillionaireWarren Buffett slashed Berkshire Hathaway’s massive Apple stake in a move that could prove unsettling for the broader stock market — both because the investor is so revered and because there had been little positive financial news lately. Just two years ago Buffett called the stock one of the four giants of his conglomerate’s business alongside Berkshire insurance, utility and BNSF railroad businesses that it owns outright. That gave investors the impression that Buffett might hold onto Apple indefinitely as he has with the Coca-Cola and American Express shares he bought decades ago.

However, he has trimmed the Apple stake over the past year and has recently also sold off some of his stock in Bank of America and Chinese EV maker BYD while doing very little buying. As a result, Buffett is now sitting on nearly $277 billion in cash, up from what was already a record $189 billion just three months earlier. “This could alarm the markets especially given the news from last week” with weak tech earnings, a disappointing jobs report and uncertainty about the future of interest rates, Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan said.