Berkshire Hathaway Inc slashed its stake in Apple Inc by almost 50% as part of a massive selling spree in the second quarter that sent billionaire Warren Buffett’s cash pile to a record US$276.90 billion . 

In all, Berkshire sold US$75.5 billion worth of stock during the second quarter on a net basis, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate reported on Saturday. Operating earnings rose to US$11.6 billion, up from US$10 billion for the same period a year ago. 

Berkshire has struggled to find ways to deploy its mountain of cash in a sluggish deal environment. In the firm’s annual shareholder meeting in May, Buffett said he wasn’t in a rush to spend “unless we think we are doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money”.

Buffett was unloading shares as the S&P 500 stock index rallied, setting a record high in mid-July, though the index has declined in each of the past three weeks on concern the artificial intelligence (AI) euphoria was overdone. On Friday, weak labour data underscored the risk of an economic downturn, and the S&P dipped 1.8%.

Regulatory filings also indicate that Berkshire trimmed its stake in Bank of America Corp in the second quarter, with the company reporting a US$41.1 billion stake.

Berkshire bought back about US$345 million of its own shares during the quarter, the lowest amount since the company changed its buy-back policy in 2018.

Cupertino, California-based reported this week that sales to China fell 6.5% to US$14.7 billion in the third quarter, missing the US$15.3 billion projection from Wall Street.

The results rekindled fears that Apple is losing ground in one of its most important overseas markets. Apple is up against fiercer competition in the region, and the government has reined in the use of foreign technology in some workplaces. Chinese economic growth also has worsened. 

Apple attributed much of the decline to the effects of a strong dollar, saying that the underlying business in China is actually healthier than before. Three months ago, executives said the slowdown was less about an underperforming iPhone and more about weak sales of other products.

Apple shares have gained this year, lifted by investors’ hope that new AI technology would help boost sales. But on July 28, Bloomberg News reported that Apple’s upcoming AI features will arrive later than anticipated, missing the initial launch of its upcoming iPhone and iPad software overhauls but giving the company more time to fix bugs.

The company is planning to begin rolling out Apple Intelligence to customers as part of software updates coming by October, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

  - Bloomberg