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Buffett marks top: Berkshire dumps 100 million Apple shares as unprecedented sales surge boosts cash flow to record $325 billion
Last August, when discussing Buffett’s ongoing liquidation of his Bank of America stake, we noted that “Berkshire’s growing cash reserves simply reflect the company’s inability to find bargains in today’s overvalued and fragile economic environment.” In just one day, we and the rest of the market witnessed the 94-year-old billionaire from Omaha not only dump Bank of America, but also quietly liquidate some of his most iconic holdings in an unprecedented sell-off that left Berkshire’s cash reserves at an all-time low by the end of the second quarter, up from $88 billion to $277 billion. But that was just the beginning, and this morning we learned that Berkshire’s unprecedented cash accumulation continued through the end of the third quarter. The world’s largest conglomerate increased its cash reserves by $48 billion. Combining cash from assets and operations, the company now has a record $325.2 billion, or nearly $25 trillion. As you can see in the context of the chart below, Berkshire nearly doubled its cash assets from $168 billion at the beginning of the year to $325 billion nine months later. That’s a 94% increase! Much of the new cash came from sales. Berkshire sold $34.6 billion worth of stock in the third quarter after a record $75.5 billion in liquidations in the second quarter. Most of what we know now comes from the fact that Buffett sold half of his Apple shares. In other words, Q3 was the quarter in which Berkshire sold stock for eight straight quarters. And the selling kept coming. While the company has yet to file a 13F report for Berkshire’s Q10 report, the company did provide a snapshot of its largest holdings, noting that it owned just $69.9 billion worth of Apple shares as of September 30. That’s down a quarter from $84.2 billion. As of June 30, that’s down 62% from $135.4 billion on March 31, and 70% from $174.3 billion on December 31, 2023. That means there were just 300 million AAPL shares outstanding as of September 30, less than a third of the shares Berkshire owns at the end of 2023, compared to Buffett’s largest holding of AAPL at 1 billion shares in 2018. That’s 30% of AAPL stock. Buffett said in May that Apple would likely remain Berkshire’s top holding, citing tax concerns as the reason for the sale. “I’m very comfortable with increasing cash reserves in the current environment,” he said at the annual shareholder meeting. It’s unclear whether BRC shareholders understood that this meant selling 70% (and growing) of AAPL’s assets. Moving down the list, the exception is Bank of America (of which Buffett is the largest shareholder). Bank of America, as we already knew, is also aggressively selling, and in the third quarter Buffett confirmed: he reduced his holdings in BAC by 23%, from 1,033 billion shares to 799 million, making his stake in BAC the third-largest after American Express, while Berkshire’s other five largest holdings (American Express, Coca Cola, and Chevron) remained roughly flat. That means Buffett has clearly decided that Apple and Bank of America are time to make their next move. (We learned that after the end of the second quarter, Buffett also began selling a significant portion of his Bank of America shares, of which he is the largest shareholder.) Berkshire’s cash balance increased by a record $35 billion, with most of the new cash coming from the proceeds of the Apple and Bank of America sales. The company also generated significant cash from its own operations, and Berkshire posted operating results in the third quarter. Profit was $10.09 billion, up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter and up 6% year over year, as underwriting revenue declined. The company also posted a $1.1 billion foreign exchange loss for the quarter. Berkshire has struggled for years to find ways to use its mountains of cash amid a trading downturn, lamenting the lack of low-cost options. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting last May, Buffett said he would be slow to spend “unless we think we’re doing something that’s very low risk and we can make a lot of money.” Now, it looks like Buffett has not only been slow to spend, he’s also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett thinks AAPL isn’t the only stock that’s overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and Berkshire balked at buying back shares in the third quarter. The company reversed its share buyback policy in 2018. No surprise there. As Warren Buffett noted in his book, Berkshire's Growing Cash Flow Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett's indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, "Buy American," this time we're selling American at rates we've never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator's Handbook is now available for free here. And don't forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. After the end of the second quarter, Buffett began dumping a significant portion of his shares of Bank of America, of which he is the largest shareholder. Berkshire's cash balance increased by a record $35 billion, with most of the new cash coming from the proceeds of the sale of Apple and Bank of America. The company also generated significant cash from its own operations; In the third quarter, Berkshire reported operating results. Profit was $10,09 billion, down from $11.6 billion in the second quarter and 6% year over year as underwriting revenue declined. The company also booked a $1.1 billion foreign exchange loss in the quarter. Berkshire has struggled for years to find ways to use its mountains of cash amid a trading downturn, lamenting a lack of low-cost options. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting last May, Buffett said he wouldn’t rush to spend “unless we think we’re doing something that’s very low risk and can make a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend, he’s also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL isn’t the only stock that’s overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and Berkshire declined to buy back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Cash Flow Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The wave operator’s guide “Elliott Wave Principles” is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. After the end of the second quarter, Buffett began dumping a significant portion of Bank of America shares, of which he is the largest shareholder. Berkshire’s cash balance increased by a record $35 billion, with most of the new cash coming from the proceeds of the sale of Apple and Bank of America. The company also generated significant cash from its own operations, and Berkshire posted operating results in the third quarter. Profit was $10.09 billion, up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter and down 6% year over year as underwriting revenue declined. The company also recorded a $1.1 billion foreign exchange loss in the quarter. Berkshire has struggled for years to find ways to use its mountains of cash amid sluggish trading, lamenting the lack of low-cost options. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting last May, Buffett said he would be slow to spend “unless we think we’re doing something that’s very low risk and we can make a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend, he’s also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL isn’t the only stock that needs to be spentwhich is overvalued and aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As noted in Warren Buffett’s book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. This is very low risk and can make us a lot of money.” Now it looks like Buffett has not only been slow to spend, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being sold aggressively. The billionaire clearly believes the overall market is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company reversed its share repurchase policy. And that’s not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates we’ve never seen before. What about you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett doesn’t think AAPL is the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the overall market is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And that’s not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book, Berkshire’s Growing Money Pile Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices we’ve never seen before. What about you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don't forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett noted in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Cash Flow Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. This is very low risk and can make us a lot of money.” Now it looks like Buffett was not only slow to spend money, but also took advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his largest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes that AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly thinks the overall market is too expensive, and Berkshire stopped buying back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company reversed its share repurchase policy. And that’s no surprise. As Warren Buffett notes in his book Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, “Buy American,” this time we’re selling American at rates we’ve never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it looks like Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett doesn’t think AAPL is the only stock that is overvalued and being sold aggressively. The billionaire clearly believes the overall market is too expensive, and Berkshire refused to buy back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As noted in Warren Buffett’s book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett noted in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Cash Flow Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. This is very low risk and can make us a lot of money.” Now it looks like Buffett was not only slow to spend money, but also took advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his largest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes that AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly thinks the overall market is too expensive, and Berkshire stopped buying back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company reversed its share repurchase policy. And that’s no surprise. As Warren Buffett notes in his book Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, “Buy American,” this time we’re selling American at rates we’ve never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it looks like Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett doesn’t think AAPL is the only stock that is overvalued and being sold aggressively. The billionaire clearly believes the overall market is too expensive, and Berkshire refused to buy back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As noted in Warren Buffett’s book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.“Buy American,” this time we’re selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and could make us a lot of money.” Now it looks like Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And that’s not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book, Berkshire’s Growing Cash Flow Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, “Buy American,” this time we’re selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and Berkshire refused to buy back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As noted in Warren Buffett's book "Berkshire's Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks," Buffett's indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: "Buy American," this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The wave operator's handbook "Elliott Wave Principles" is now available for free here. And don't forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.“Buy American,” this time we’re selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and could make us a lot of money.” Now it looks like Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And that’s not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book, Berkshire’s Growing Cash Flow Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared, “Buy American,” this time we’re selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend money, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his biggest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and Berkshire refused to buy back shares in the third quarter. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As noted in Warren Buffett's book "Berkshire's Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks," Buffett's indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: "Buy American," this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The wave operator's handbook "Elliott Wave Principles" is now available for free here. And don't forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.which is overvalued and aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his largest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes that AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes that the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company reversed its share repurchase policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book, Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don't forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.which is overvalued and aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company changed its share buyback policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. Bottom line: unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American at rates never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel. It’s very low risk and can make you a lot of money.” Now, it appears that Buffett has not only been slow to spend, but has also taken advantage of the AI bubble to aggressively liquidate some of his largest holdings. Finally, Buffett believes that AAPL is not the only stock that is overvalued and being aggressively sold. The billionaire clearly believes that the market as a whole is too expensive, and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to buy back shares. In 2018, the company reversed its share repurchase policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book, Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks, Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator’s Handbook is now available for free here. And don't forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to repurchase shares. In 2018, the company changed its share repurchase policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.and in the third quarter, Berkshire refused to repurchase shares. In 2018, the company changed its share repurchase policy. And this is not surprising. As Warren Buffett notes in his book “Berkshire’s Growing Money Supply Has a Hidden Message in Stocks,” Buffett’s indicators rarely pointed to an expensive market. conclusion: Unlike October 2008, when Buffett loudly declared: “Buy American,” this time we are selling American goods at prices never seen before. And you? We know one thing. Buffett is afraid. Translated here The Elliott Wave Principles Wave Operator Handbook is now available for free here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Telegram channel.