Berkshire Apple investment summary

Berkshire Apple investment journey
investment
Published

March 11, 2026

🍎 Berkshire & Apple: The Greatest Trade of All Time

“Apple is an even better business than I thought it was.” — Warren Buffett, 2023

Act I — The Entry (2016–2018): The Old Dog Learns New Tricks

In early 2016, something remarkable happened. Warren Buffett — the man who famously avoided tech stocks for decades — quietly began buying Apple shares. His lieutenants, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, nudged him in. He saw not a tech company, but a consumer products giant with unbreakable loyalty.

Berkshire began accumulating at an average price of ~$26–$36/share (split-adjusted). By mid-2018, they held ~1 billion shares, investing roughly $36 billion.

“It’s probably the best business I know in the world.” — Warren Buffett, 2017

The Price Journey

xychart-beta
    title "Apple Share Price (Split-Adjusted) — Berkshire's Journey"
    x-axis ["2016 Q1 (Entry)", "2017", "2018 (Full Position)", "2019", "2020", "2021", "2022 Peak (~$182)", "2023", "2024 Peak ($232)", "2025 (Selloff)"]
    y-axis "Share Price (USD)" 0 --> 250
    line [28, 40, 55, 73, 120, 155, 182, 170, 232, 180]
Milestone Year Approx. Price Event
🟢 Entry Begins Q1 2016 ~$28 First shares purchased
📈 Position Built 2018 ~$55 ~1 billion shares held
🚀 COVID Surge 2020 ~$120 Work-from-home boom
🏔️ All-Time Peak Late 2024 ~$232 Berkshire’s peak value: ~$174B
🔴 Selloff Begins 2023–2024 ~$180 Buffett trims ~67% of stake

Act II — The Ascent (2019–2022): Riding the Wave

Apple wasn’t just rising — it was transforming. Services revenue exploded. The App Store, iCloud, Apple Pay. iPhone loyalty became a moat no competitor could cross.

Berkshire’s $36B stake quietly ballooned. By 2021, Apple represented over 40% of Berkshire’s entire equity portfolio — an almost unthinkable concentration for a value investor.

“I don’t think of Apple as a stock. I think of it as our third business.” — Warren Buffett, 2021

EPS Growth: Why Buffett Held

xychart-beta
    title "Apple EPS (Earnings Per Share) — Annual"
    x-axis ["2016", "2017", "2018", "2019", "2020", "2021", "2022", "2023", "2024"]
    y-axis "EPS (USD)" 0 --> 7
    bar [2.08, 2.30, 2.97, 2.97, 3.28, 5.61, 6.11, 6.13, 6.42]

EPS nearly tripled from 2016 to 2024. Every dollar Buffett paid in 2016 was buying into a business that would become 3× more profitable per share. The buybacks alone — Apple repurchased hundreds of billions in stock — mechanically boosted EPS year after year.

“Tim Cook has been an extraordinary CEO… Apple’s repurchase of its shares has been a huge plus for us.” — Warren Buffett, 2023 Annual Letter

ROI Over Time: The Scoreboard

xychart-beta
    title "Berkshire's Unrealized ROI on Apple Position (%)"
    x-axis ["2017", "2018", "2019", "2020", "2021", "2022", "2023", "Peak 2024", "Post-Selloff"]
    y-axis "Return on Investment (%)" 0 --> 400
    line [30, 52, 100, 200, 280, 300, 310, 380, 220]

Act III — The Peak & The Exit (2023–2024): Buffett Cashes In

At its height, Berkshire’s Apple stake was worth ~$174 billion — on a ~$36B investment. A return of roughly $138 billion in profit.

Then, quietly, Buffett began selling. Not all at once — but methodically. By end of 2024, Berkshire had reduced its position by approximately 67%, from ~915 million shares to ~300 million shares.

Why? Buffett cited: - Elevated valuations (P/E above 30×) - Tax reasons — locking in gains at current capital gains rates - Building the cash fortress — Berkshire’s cash hit a record $325 billion

The Final Tally

flowchart LR
    A["💵 Invested\n~$36 Billion\n2016–2018"] --> B["📈 Peak Value\n~$174 Billion\n Late 2024"]
    B --> C["💰 Estimated\nRealized Gains\n~$100+ Billion"]
    B --> D["📦 Remaining Stake\n~$70 Billion\n~300M shares"]
    style A fill:#1a1a2e,color:#fff,stroke:#e94560
    style B fill:#16213e,color:#fff,stroke:#0f3460
    style C fill:#0f3460,color:#fff,stroke:#e94560
    style D fill:#533483,color:#fff,stroke:#e94560
Amount
Total Invested ~$36 billion
Peak Portfolio Value ~$174 billion
Estimated Realized Gains (sold shares) ~$100 billion
Remaining Stake Value ~$70 billion
Total Profit (realized + unrealized) ~$138 billion
Overall ROI ~383%

Epilogue: What Made This Trade Legendary

It wasn’t luck. It was Buffett recognizing that Apple’s ecosystem lock-in was the most powerful moat since Coca-Cola. The consumer loyalty, the buyback machine, the services flywheel — all compounded silently.

The selloff wasn’t a loss of faith. It was capital discipline at historic scale.

“When you find a truly wonderful business, you don’t think about selling it.” — Warren Buffett

And when you do sell — you make $100 billion.

Data based on publicly reported 13-F filings, Berkshire annual letters, and Apple financial reports. Prices are split-adjusted. All figures approximate.