Warren Buffetts Apple stake has tripled in value to more than $100 billion

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

• Warren Buffett’s Apple investment has tripled in value to north of $100 billion.
• Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway spent about $35 billion to build the 5.7% stake, and the 10% rise in Apple’s stock price on Friday boosted its value to about $104 billion.
• Berkshire’s Apple position is now worth more than four times its second-largest holding, Bank of America.
• Bill Brewster, who runs Sullimar Capital Group and cohosts the “Value: After Hours” podcast, recently told Business Insider that Buffett’s Apple bet was “one of the best investments ever.”
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Warren Buffett’s Apple stake has tripled in value to more than $100 billion as the iPhone maker’s stock continues to reach new heights.

The famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO spent about $35 billion to acquire 250 million Apple shares between 2016 and 2018, according to his 2019 shareholder letter. Buffett has cashed out some of that holding since then, and owned 245 million shares at last count. 

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The position is currently worth more than $104 billion. Apple’s third-quarter earnings sent its stock price up 10% to an all-time high of $425 on Friday, lifting its market capitalization to north of $1.8 trillion, and making it the most valuable company on the planet.

Apple stock has climbed about 42% this year, boosting the value of Buffett’s stake by $30 billion in the past seven months alone.

Bill Brewster, an investor who runs Sullimar Capital Group and cohosts the “Value: After Hours” podcast, recently told Business Insider that Buffett’s Apple bet was “one of the best investments ever.”

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Apple is by far the largest position in Berkshire’s stock portfolio, worth more than four times its second-largest holding, a $25 billion stake in Bank of America.

Berkshire’s market capitalization is currently about $476 billion, implying its 5.7% stake in Apple accounts for more than a fifth of its entire value.

Yet Berkshire boasted $137 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of last quarter. It also racked up $255 billion in revenue and another $73 billion in investment gains last year, generating $82 billion in net earnings.

The value of Berkshire’s Apple stake relative to the rest of its portfolio and its market cap underscores the extent to which investors are prizing tech companies and neglecting more staid businesses such as banks, insurers, and railroads.

Here’s a chart showing Apple’s stock price over the past three years:

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