Berkshire Hathaway Q3-2024 Analysis

Berkshire Hathaway saw its cash position increase by $48.3 billion over the past quarter, according to the Q3 figures released by the company earlier today.

While Berkshire Hathaway's cash position at the end of last year stood at $167.6 billion, it has grown by 94% over the past nine months to reach $325.2 billion as of September 30, 2024.

This increase is partly due to the company reducing its stake in Apple, which has decreased by more than $100 billion over the past three quarters, leaving it at $70 billion by the end of Q3-2024, even as the tech giant's stock price rose by 16% year-to-date. Since the start of this year, Berkshire Hathaway has ramped up its selloff of Apple shares, following a smaller sale in Q4 of 2023.

In Q3-2024, the investment firm continued this reduction in its Apple stake. This can be inferred from the performance of Apple's stock—which gained about 10.6% in Q3-2024—compared to the $14 billion decline in the fair value of Berkshire's holdings in the company.

Currently, Apple has a market cap of $3.4 trillion, making it the world's most valuable publicly traded company. It is closely followed by NVIDIA ($3.3 trillion) and Microsoft ($3.1 trillion) in the race for the top spot. There is a gap of roughly $1 trillion separating this top three from Alphabet, which holds the fourth spot at $2.1 trillion.

In Q3-2024, American Express became Berkshire Hathaway’s second-largest holding, valued at $41.1 billion in fair value, surpassing Bank of America.

In the past quarter, Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in Bank of America by around 23% compared to June 30, 2024. Bank of America currently has a market cap of $320 billion, with Berkshire holding $31.7 billion in shares.

Coca-Cola and Chevron hold the fourth and fifth spots in Berkshire’s top five positions.

Through these moves, Berkshire Hathaway continues its previously chosen path to increase its cash reserves. Has the investment firm become too large to deploy its capital effectively? Or is it simply waiting—unlike many other investors on Wall Street—for new opportunities to emerge in the current strong stock market? 💬 

Disclaimer 
All data and information presented on the website (www.massivemoats.com) and in our documents do not constitute investment advice. The content on this website provides information about the world of investing, the modeling of financial data and identifying a company’s moat. In addition, opinions may be given about specific companies, sectors or the economy as a whole. These opinions, regardless of whether they are presented with facts and/or figures, do not constitute investment advice either. They are purely for the purpose of illustrating our own perspective. The documentation presented on the website may contain inaccuracies and/or irregularities. Always conduct your own research and consult multiple sources before making any potential investment decisions. Massive Moats is in no way responsible for any damages incurred as a result of inaccuracies and/or irregularities on our website or in our products and/or services. If you notice any inaccuracies and/or irregularities, please contact us so that we can correct them. 

Any information contained on the site is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, accounting and/or financial advice. You should consult directly with a professional if financial, accounting, tax or other expertise is required.