Berkshire Hathaway trims Apple stake, buys NYTimes stock in Buffett’s last moves as CEO
Warren Buffett speaks at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting on May 4, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.
CNBC
Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway I cut more Apple bought his share and started a new position New York Times in the fourth quarter, according to a new securities filing.
The Omaha-based holding company announced that it reduced its position in the iPhone manufacturer by 4.3% to $61.96 billion, according to InsiderScore data. Despite the outage, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest equity holding by far.
Berkshire announced that it reduced its stake in Apple in the third quarter and began buying shares in the other “Magnificent Seven”, Alphabet. The holding also reduced its shares in Apple in the second quarter of last year, after reducing its shares by two-thirds in 2024.
While Apple enjoyed its third consecutive year of victory, rising nearly 9 percent in 2025, it underperformed the S&P 500, which gained more than 16 percent last year. The stock has lagged even further this year, falling nearly 3%. In fact, last week had its worst day since April 2025.
Apple shares year-to-date
It’s unclear whether the moves were made by Buffett or by investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler. Buffett views Apple as a consumer products company rather than a pure technology play, and these moves may reflect Buffett making his portfolio more manageable for his successor.
Berkshire announced a relatively small $351.7 million stake in addition to the cut in its Apple holding. New York Times. The position ranks 29th out of 41 total positions.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Top 10 Holdings as of the end of the 4th Quarter
| TICKET | NAME | VALUE ($BILLION) | CHANGE IN NUMBER OF SHARES (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | Apple | 61.96 | -4.3 |
| AXP | American Express | 56.09 | None |
| BAC | Bank of America | 28.45 | -8.9 |
| knockout | Coca Cola | 27.96 | None |
| CVX | Strip | 19.84 | 6.6 |
| MCO | Moody’s | 12.6 | None |
| OXY | Western Oil | 10.89 | None |
| C.B. | chubby | 10.69 | 9.3 |
| CHC | Kraft Heinz | 7.9 | None |
| Alphabet | 5.59 | None |
Source: InsiderScore
The fourth quarter was Buffett’s final three months at the helm of Berkshire, and Greg Abel, who served as vice president of non-insurance operations at the company, took the reins as CEO at the beginning of the new year.
Before Buffett’s departure, structural changes were announced at the company, including Combs. After resigning in December, the former Berkshire investment manager and Geico CEO joined JPMorgan Chase in January as head of its new Security and Resilience Initiative.
Buffett first announced at Berkshire’s annual meeting last May that he would ask the Berkshire board to replace him with Abel. Although Buffett is no longer CEO, he remains chairman of the board.
