Apple shares fell 7% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reduced half of its stake | Real Time Headlines

Over the weekend, Warren Buffett shocked the investing world by slashing his massive fortune. apple The holding was halved, sending the tech stock plunging on Monday as a global sell-off intensified.

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in its financial report that its holdings of Apple were valued at US$84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, indicating that The Oracle of Omaha sold off just over 49% of technology stocks.

Apple shares fell more than 7% in premarket trading on Monday. Global stock markets are on the verge of a sharp correction, fueled by concerns about an economic slowdown.

The 93-year-old legendary investor has been on a massive sell-off, offloading more than $75 billion in stocks and raising capital in the second quarter Berkshire Hathaway’s cash reserves are as high as $277 billion. The group hit an all-time high. Buffett also begins selling his second-largest holding Bank of America in July.

Buffett, who has sold 13% of his Apple shares in the first quarter, has previously said it was a tax-saving move because he expected the U.S. government to raise interest rates to fund a widening fiscal deficit. However, the size of second-quarter sales likely means taxes aren’t the only driver.

Berkshire began buying the stock in 2016 under the influence of Buffett’s investing lieutenants Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Over the years, Buffett has grown so fond of Apple that he has significantly increased his stake in it, making it Berkshire’s largest company and calling it a tech giant The second most important business After his cluster of insurance companies.

Berkshire’s holdings in Apple were so large that at one point they accounted for half of its stock portfolio, so the sell-off may also have been driven by concerns about portfolio management.

Apple’s stock price rose 23% in the second quarter to a record high due to renewed optimism about its artificial intelligence capabilities.