{"id":486889,"date":"2026-01-02T10:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/486889\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T10:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:37:25","slug":"berkshire-is-selling-apple-stock-and-buying-this-other-magnificent-artificial-intelligence-ai-stock-instead-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/486889\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkshire Is Selling Apple Stock and Buying This Other Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Berkshire Hathaway has been selling Apple stock throughout the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last three years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a theme so influential that the broader market seems to ebb and flow based on this singular narrative. The <strong>S&amp;P 500<\/strong> and <strong>Nasdaq Composite<\/strong>\u00a0indices are both hovering near record highs, with megacap technology stocks being some of the largest contributors to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2025\/12\/23\/second-time-150-years-stock-market-warning\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">market&#8217;s ongoing rally<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While just about every major investment fund on Wall Street can&#8217;t seem to get enough of AI, <strong>Berkshire Hathaway<\/strong>&#8216;s Warren Buffett &#8212; who just retired as CEO &#8212; has primarily stuck to his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/c\/contrarian-investing\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contrarian<\/a> methods. Throughout the AI revolution, Berkshire\u00a0has been a net seller of stocks &#8212; hoarding cash on its balance sheet and collecting passive income through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/t\/treasury-bills\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Treasury bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Last quarter, Berkshire finally put some of its excess capital to use and made a significant addition to its portfolio. Let&#8217;s dig into some of the fund&#8217;s moves in recent years and try to make sense of what drove these decisions. From there, we&#8217;ll take a look at valuation and assess if now is a good opportunity to follow in Buffett&#8217;s footsteps.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Warren Buffett smiling.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767350242_545_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Image source: The Motley Fool.<\/p>\n<p>No longer the apple of Buffett&#8217;s eye<\/p>\n<p>Berkshire Hathaway has long been a fan of consumer businesses and financial services. For decades, many of the firm&#8217;s largest positions have included insurance companies and banks, as well as a mix of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/market-sectors\/consumer-staples\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">consumer staples<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/market-sectors\/consumer-discretionary\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">discretionary<\/a> brands.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2016, Buffett made headlines following Berkshire&#8217;s purchase of <strong>Apple<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/aapl\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AAPL<\/a> 0.45%) stock. Many investors viewed this as a rare instance of Buffett investing in the technology sector. However, given Apple&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/b\/brand-moat\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">brand moat<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/s\/switching-barriers\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">consumer loyalty<\/a>, robust hardware ecosystem, and steady cash flow generation, the company actually checks off many of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/famous-investors\/warren-buffett-investments\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buffett&#8217;s investment criteria<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A combination of meaningful price appreciation and subsequent buying over the last decade ultimately turned Apple into Berkshire&#8217;s largest position. Throughout the AI revolution, however, Buffett has been trimming exposure to the iPhone maker.<\/p>\n<tr>PositionQ4 2023Q1 2024Q2 2024Q3 2024Q4 2024Q1 2025Q2 2025Q3 2025<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Apple shares (in millions)<\/td>\n<td class=\"txtC\">906<\/td>\n<td class=\"txtC\">789<\/td>\n<td class=\"text-right txtC\">400<\/td>\n<td class=\"text-right txtC\">300<\/td>\n<td class=\"txtC\">300<\/td>\n<td class=\"txtC\">300<\/td>\n<td class=\"text-right txtC\">280<\/td>\n<td class=\"text-right txtC\">238<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p class=\"caption\">Data Source: 13f.info<\/p>\n<p>Since the end of 2023, Berkshire has reduced its exposure to Apple by roughly 73%. Many pundits on Wall Street have criticized Apple for being late to the AI market. While I personally agree, I do not think this necessarily played much of a role in Buffett&#8217;s decision to sell the stock.<\/p>\n<p>To me, the rationale behind these sales was more macro-oriented. Since October 2023, both the S&amp;P 500 and Apple stock have risen by about 60% &#8212; an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/a\/abnormal-returns\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abnormally high return<\/a> in a rather short period. Buffett has always exercised prudent judgment. I think taking advantage of a frothy market and rotating capital into more passive vehicles seemed like a better deal in the eyes of Buffett.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Apple Stock Quote\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"w-full flex-none object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767350242_375_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s Change<\/p>\n<p>(-0.45%) $-1.22<\/p>\n<p>Current Price<\/p>\n<p>$271.86<\/p>\n<p>Key Data Points<\/p>\n<p>Market Cap<\/p>\n<p>$4.0T<\/p>\n<p>Day&#8217;s Range<\/p>\n<p>$271.75 &#8211; $273.68<\/p>\n<p>52wk Range<\/p>\n<p>$169.21 &#8211; $288.62<\/p>\n<p>Volume<\/p>\n<p>90K<\/p>\n<p>Avg Vol<\/p>\n<p>45M<\/p>\n<p>Gross Margin<\/p>\n<p>46.91%<\/p>\n<p>Dividend Yield<\/p>\n<p>0.38%<\/p>\n<p>Billionaires are plowing into Alphabet stock<\/p>\n<p>For much of the AI revolution, companies such as <strong>Nvidia<\/strong> and <strong>Palantir Technologies<\/strong> have been the main attractions. When it comes to legacy internet companies, both <strong>Amazon<\/strong> and <strong>Microsoft<\/strong> have also become heavily featured in the broader AI discussion.<\/p>\n<p>One company that has been relatively quiet for the last few years, however, is <strong>Alphabet<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/googl\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOOGL<\/a> 0.16%) (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/goog\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOOG<\/a> 0.24%). For a while, the rise of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/l\/large-language-models\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">large language models<\/a> (LLMs) such as ChatGPT were viewed as a knockout punch for traditional search engines &#8212; namely, Google.<\/p>\n<p>But over the last few years, Alphabet quietly trudged along and built out its AI roadmap. Now, billionaires are finally catching on. During the third quarter, notable investors, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/famous-investors\/stanley-druckenmiller\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stanley Druckenmiller<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/famous-investors\/israel-englander\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israel Englander<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/famous-investors\/ken-griffin\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ken Griffin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/famous-investors\/philippe-laffont\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Philippe Laffont<\/a>, and now Warren Buffett, all poured into Alphabet stock.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Google logo on a cell phone's wallpaper.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"880\" height=\"642\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767350244_436_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Image source: Getty Images.<\/p>\n<p>Is Alphabet stock a good buy right now?<\/p>\n<p>Alphabet currently boasts a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/f\/forward-pe\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forward price-to-earnings<\/a> (P\/E) multiple of 29. While the time to buy the stock at bargain prices may have passed, there are still plenty of upsides.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/GOOGL\/chart\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img alt=\"GOOGL PE Ratio (Forward) Chart\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"441\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent;max-width:720px\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/d24c9070c9939d5d43d7853158b19325.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\/companies\/GOOGL\/forward_pe_ratio\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GOOGL PE Ratio (Forward)<\/a> data by <a href=\"https:\/\/ycharts.com\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YCharts<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Today, Alphabet has integrated its own LLM, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/g\/google-gemini\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gemini<\/a>, into core aspects of its business &#8212; from an overhauled Google search landing page to the company&#8217;s Android consumer electronics devices.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Alphabet has also invested heavily into its own hardware in the form of custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2025\/12\/19\/billionaire-philippe-laffont-is-selling-nvidia-and\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tensor Processing Units<\/a> (TPUs) &#8212; integrating this technology into its budding cloud computing platform. Most recently, Alphabet announced a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2025\/12\/29\/why-alphabet-just-paid-475-billion-for-intersect-a\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$4.7 billion acquisition of Intersect<\/a> &#8212; a provider of clean energy power sources for data centers.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Alphabet Stock Quote\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"w-full flex-none object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767350245_841_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s Change<\/p>\n<p>(-0.24%) $-0.75<\/p>\n<p>Current Price<\/p>\n<p>$313.80<\/p>\n<p>Key Data Points<\/p>\n<p>Market Cap<\/p>\n<p>$3.8T<\/p>\n<p>Day&#8217;s Range<\/p>\n<p>$312.20 &#8211; $315.39<\/p>\n<p>52wk Range<\/p>\n<p>$142.66 &#8211; $328.67<\/p>\n<p>Volume<\/p>\n<p>56K<\/p>\n<p>Avg Vol<\/p>\n<p>23M<\/p>\n<p>Gross Margin<\/p>\n<p>59.18%<\/p>\n<p>Dividend Yield<\/p>\n<p>0.26%<\/p>\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/v\/vertically-integrated\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vertically integrating<\/a> all aspects of the AI value chain across its ecosystem, Alphabet is positioning itself to emerge as a durable leader of the next technological supercycle. Against this backdrop, I think Alphabet is poised for meaningful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/terms\/v\/what-is-valuation-expansion\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">valuation expansion<\/a> over the next several years and see the company as a compelling opportunity to buy and hold for patient investors with a long-term time horizon &#8212; just like Berkshire Hathaway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berkshire Hathaway has been selling Apple stock throughout the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Over the last three years,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":486890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-486889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115825072547011261","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}