Warren Buffett's sale of Apple stock may not mean he is bearish but he clearly isn't bullish on equities. Photograph: Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg
Stocktake has previously cautioned about reading too much into headlines about Berkshire’s “record” cash holdings . That’s because as Berkshire’s portfolio and market capitalisation grows over time, so will its cash holdings. However, the scale of Buffett’s selling is notable. There are some qualifiers. First, Buffett expects capital gains taxes to rise and had signalled he would take profits in advance of this. Second, reducing his Apple shareholding looks prudent, given it accounted for half of Berkshire’s equity portfolio six months ago . Third, Berkshire’s cash pile is roughly 30 per cent of its market capitalisation. That’s high, but it was higher in early 2020 and also in 2004 when it peaked at nearly 40 per cent.