Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) cash pile swelled to $325.21 billion in the third quarter on consistent sales of Apple (AAPL) stock and no buybacks. Warren Buffett-led Berkshire continued to sell shares of its major holdings this quarter. Moreover, it neither repurchased any shares nor undertook any major acquisitions despite sitting on truckloads of cash. This reflects the Oracle of Omaha’s cautious stance on the U.S. economy and the heightened stock market valuations, which are worrying some experts and investors.
On Saturday, November 2, Berkshire released its Q3 FY24 results. Operating profits for the quarter fell 6% year-over-year to $10.09 billion, while net profits skyrocketed to $26.25 billion from a net loss of $12.77 billion reported last year. Being a financial conglomerate, Berkshire’s income/loss varies wildly based on the investment gains/losses on its holdings. Meanwhile, total revenue declined marginally to $92.99 billion from $93.21 billion in Q3 FY23.
More on Buffett’s Apple Stock Selling Spree in Q3
In total, Buffett offloaded a quarter (nearly 100 million shares) of its Apple stock holdings in the third quarter. According to its Q3 report, Berkshire held 300 million or $69.9 billion worth of Apple shares at the end of September. Notably, iPhone maker Apple remains Berkshire’s largest equity holding even after four consecutive quarters of stock sales.
Some experts think that Buffett expects the capital gain taxes on equity sales to go up after the presidential elections, which is why he is selling a sizeable portion of Apple stock. At the end of 2023, Berkshire had $174.3 billion worth of Apple stock. Interestingly, Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks during the third quarter.
Berkshire also sold a significant portion of its Bank of America (BAC) holdings during the third quarter. As of quarter end, Berkshire had $31.7 billion worth of BAC stock. Buffett lowered his BAC holdings to below the 10% threshold during the quarter, which means that he is not required to make public disclosures of any further BAC stock sale in a timely manner.
The other three stocks from the top five holdings of Berkshire’s portfolio as of September end were American Express (AXP) at $41.1 billion, The Coca-Cola Company (KO) at $28.7 billion, and oil major Chevron Corp. (CVX) at $17.5 billion.
Is Berkshire B Stock a Good Buy?
On TipRanks, BRK.B stock has a Hold consensus rating based on one Buy and three Hold ratings. The average Berkshire Hathaway Class B price target of $463 implies 2.4% upside potential from current levels. Year-to-date, BRK.B shares have gained 26.8%.
Please note that these ratings were given before the Q3 results were announced and are subject to change, as analysts could revisit their views on the stock.
