Headline: Buffett trims Apple stake, builds Alphabet position — Berkshire pivots toward AI, cloud and digital ads
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway quietly reshuffled its tech exposure in Q3, cutting into its Apple holdings and opening a new position in Alphabet — a move that signals a tilt toward companies tied to AI, cloud infrastructure and digital advertising.
Key moves
- Berkshire sold 41.7 million Apple shares during the quarter, trimming Apple’s portfolio weighting to roughly 21%. That represents about a 74% reduction in Apple exposure over the past two years, according to regulatory filings.
- At the same time, Berkshire acquired 17.8 million shares of Alphabet, which now account for about 2% of the firm’s portfolio.
Why it matters
- Apple remains a cash machine: it reported $102 billion in revenue for the September quarter (up 8% year-over-year) and non‑GAAP EPS of $1.85 — a 13% rise aided by margin improvements and buybacks. The company’s installed device base tops 2.35 billion units. Apple has also rolled out “Apple Intelligence,” adding generative-AI features to newer devices for now at no charge, with paid tiers expected down the road.
- Alphabet represents a different set of growth levers: massive scale in digital advertising, expanding cloud services and bets on autonomous driving and AI. The shares Berkshire bought come from a company that has returned roughly 12,180% since its 2004 IPO and sits near a $3.7 trillion market capitalization, making it one of the world’s largest firms.
Context and implications
- The transactions mark a notable rotation within Berkshire’s tech exposure: trimming exposure to a hardware-and-consumer-services giant and increasing stakes in a software/cloud/AI-led business. It’s also noteworthy because Buffett long avoided traditional tech stocks, even though Berkshire has held Apple for years.
- For crypto and Web3 observers, the pivot underscores where big capital is flowing: into AI models, cloud infrastructure and ad-driven platforms that power large-scale data and compute. Those same cloud and AI services are increasingly relevant to blockchain projects (node hosting, cloud-based indexing/analytics, AI-driven on-chain tooling), so shifts in investor appetite among mega-cap tech firms can have indirect effects on infrastructure funding and enterprise blockchain adoption.
Bottom line: Berkshire’s Q3 filings show a strategic reweight — a reduced Apple footprint and a new bet on Alphabet — which frames the firm’s tech exposure around AI, cloud and ad monetization rather than consumer hardware. Keep an eye on whether other large investors follow suit and how capital flows between AI/cloud leaders and crypto infrastructure plays.
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