That massive cash war chest will likely reach $200 billion by the end of the current quarter, Buffett told shareholders at a packed CHI Health Center today.
“I don’t think anyone sitting at this table has any idea how to use it effectively, and therefore we don’t use it,” Buffett said in response to a shareholder question of why Berkshire isn’t putting the cash reserve to work. "This does not concern us all that much because Apple was such a large position in the 13-F portfolio at the end of 2023, so anything to lessen that exposure is good from a diversification perspective," Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren told me at the meeting.“At the end of the year, I would think it’s extremely likely that Apple is the largest common stock holding we have now,” Buffett told a packed house, which included Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“It's easy to blame the overall consumer environment but there's also a market share dynamic that's occurring with Huawei and others becoming extremely competitive,” Ariel Investments emerging markets equities senior vice president Christine Phillpotts told me at Berkshire's annual meeting.