Weeks after reducing the stake of his company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) in Apple (AAPL), Warren Buffett said he would have considered buying shares of the tech giant again if they were cheaper. In an interview given to CNBC this week, the billionaire investor said he is not planning to sell Apple shares either, but would rather hold them until the price goes further down.
The statement assumes significance considering the fact that Berkshire is Apple’s second-largest shareholder and that the latter’s stock fell sharply in recent months. As the free fall continued, mainly due to the weakening demand for iPhone, at one point Apple’s stock had hit the lowest level in more than a year. After earning the distinction of becoming the first Wall Street firm to cross the $1-billioin mark last year, the company’s market value slipped progressively to just above $825 billion.
Berkshire Hathaway recently trimmed its stake in Apple by 1% in a sale that coincided with Buffett’s exit from Oracle (ORCL), barely a few months after acquiring a $2.13-billion stake in the software firm.
After becoming the first Wall Street firm to hit the $1-billioin mark last year, Apple’s market value dropped sharply
Buffett, whose bullish views on the iPhone-maker have been widely discussed, bought a sizable stake in Apple in the last couple of years. However, sources in Berkshire revealed that the sale of three million Apple shares was not executed as per Buffett’s instruction.
Buffett’s comments have triggered speculation that the worst is not yet over for Apple, which has already lost 20% market value since the management slashed the outlook for iPhone sales. The statement is a reiteration of the one Buffett had made mid-2018, expressing his appreciation for Apple products and intention to hike his stake in the company if it lost market value further.
Buffett also finds some of the banking stocks, especially that of JPMorgan, worth investing. Meanwhile, he expressed his negative sentiment towards cryptocurrencies once again and dismissed Bitcoin as a ‘delusion.’
For the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hathaway reported its biggest ever net loss, hurt by the unusually wide swings in the values of the equities it holds. The company’s stock, which slipped below the $300,000-martk earlier this month, suffered one of the biggest intraday losses last week.