Warren Buffett is famously not a tech investor. But his decision in 2016 to invest in Apple proved to be probably the best financial call he ever made.
But Buffett inexplicably sold roughly 687.6 Apple shares starting in Q4 2023. And that could prove to be the biggest financial mistake he ever made. Berkshire did make a profit in selling those shares to the tune of about $115.9 billion before taxes.
Had he not sold any Apple shares, Berkshire Hathaway’s Apple holdings would equal about $305.1 billion.
But, because he sold, their Apple holdings are worth only $76 billion, more than 4 times less.
The graph below depicts what Berkshire Hathaway’s AAPL holdings would be had they not sold versus what it’s worth today.
And here’s the stock performance between Apple and Berkshire Hathaway this year:
Of course, hindsight is 20-20 and Buffett is one of the best investors of all-time. The dumping of AAPL shares may have seemed to make sense at the time — to pare back Berkshire’s percentage of its portfolio in AAPL. But, today, one has to wonder whether Buffett sold too soon.
Buffett admitted he sold Apple “too soon.” But he deflected how bad that decision was. It looks like at least $100 billion worth of bad.
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