© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley in Sun Valley, Idaho, USA, July 5, 2022. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
By Carolina Mandl and Sittrarasu WILL
NEW YORK/BANGALORE (Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:) Inc slashed its stake in Taiwanese contract chipmaker TSMC as well as in several banks in the fourth quarter, while consolidating shares. its share in Apple Inc.
Berkshire cut its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by 86.2% to 8.29 million U.S. custody shares, according to a regulatory filing.
The announcement comes about three months after Berkshire revealed it had purchased more than $4.1 billion worth of TSMC shares, sending their shares soaring.
TSMC depository receipts fell 4% in the US after hours of trading.
TSMC custodial shares, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, are up nearly 32% this year to close at $97.96 on Tuesday.
“Berkshire made a small profit from TSMC. It’s not a big, very big win for Berkshire,” said Cathy Seifert, analyst at CFRA Research. By her calculations, Berkshire bought it for about $68.5 and sold it for $74.5.
However, the world’s largest contract chipmaker last month said first-quarter revenue could drop 5% as it weathers a global downturn in the chip industry driven by consumer demand for devices. weakened by electronics. TSMC executives said they do not expect market conditions to improve until the second half of the year.
Besides TSMC, Buffett also divested his 91.4% stake in US Bancorp (NYSE: NYSE: NYSE) to 6.7 million shares and reduced his stake in BNY Mellon (NYSE: NYSE) about 60%. : 25.1 million shares). Both cuts totaled nearly $5.5 billion in current prices.
Buffett’s corporation also holds shares in the company Citigroup Inc (NYSE:), Bank of America (NYSE:) and Jefferies.
Berkshire has cut a number of positions in the portfolios of U.S. listed companies, including letter V (NYSE:), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:), maker of the video game “Call of Duty” and Kroger (NYSE:).
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) is working to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. On February 21, Microsoft will defend the deal before the European Union and national antitrust officials at a closed-door hearing.
Among Berkshire’s few additions is Apple, which Buffett views more as a consumer products company. Berkshire purchased an additional 20.8 million shares of Apple (NASDAQ:) worth $3.2 billion, bringing its ownership to 5.8%, according to the filing.
Apple shares are up nearly 18 percent this year.
Berkshire also unveiled a new $84 million stake in the building materials company Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:) Corp.
