Warren Buffett released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders this morning. Below you'll find his opening paragraph and then a leap to page 5 where Berkshire Hathaway reveals their official stake in Apple.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Berkshire earned $81.4 billion in 2019 according to generally accepted accounting principles (commonly called "GAAP"). The components of that figure are $24 billion of operating earnings, $3.7 billion of realized capital gains and a $53.7 billion gain from an increase in the amount of net unrealized capital gains that exist in the stocks we hold. Each of those components of earnings is stated on an after-tax basis.
Leaping to page 5 it states: "Here, we list our 10 largest stock-market holdings of businesses. The list distinguishes between their earnings that are reported to you under GAAP accounting – these are the dividends Berkshire receives from those 10 investees – and our share, so to speak, of the earnings the investees retain and put to work. Normally, those companies use retained earnings to expand their business and increase its efficiency. Or sometimes they use those funds to repurchase significant portions of their own stock, an act that enlarges Berkshire's share of the company's future earnings."
(Click on image to Enlarge)
In August 2017 Patently Apple reported that Berkshire Hathaway owned 2.5% of Apple stock. Today's 5.7% figure, after selling some Apple stock on Monday, stands at over double their 2017 position. Go to CNBC to read the full letter.
On Monday Patently Apple posted a report titled "An SEC Filing reveals that Warren Buffet Sold hundreds of millions worth of Apple's stock (AAPL) last Quarter."