Last week saw Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Warren Buffett purchase a further 75 million shares in Apple (AAPL). The huge investment by the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ boosted the share price, closing at a record high of $190.04. The acquisition moved Apple closer to becoming the first company in history to have a market capitalization of $1 trillion.
A larger slice of the Apple pie
With 240 million shares and a 4.8% holding, Berkshire Hathaway are the third-biggest Apple investor after Vanguard and BlackRock. Unsurprising, given that the smartphone titan accrued a colossal $48.35 billion profit during its fiscal 2017. Buffett’s bank-busting buy comes after his failure to speculate on Google and Amazon during their infancy.
“It is an unbelievable company,” he told CNBC, “I think it earns almost twice as much as the second most profitable company in the United States.”
Plenty in the pipeline
Apple have surged towards the historical mark via a $100 billion share buyback. This is a win-win situation for Buffett, as his share capital will grow further, without additional outlay. High numbers augur well for Apple whilst the markets favor tech-based stocks. However, should that change the outlook for the world’s favourite smartphone maker could darken.
Marketplace competition is fierce; however, Apple has plenty in the product pipeline to keep the dollars rolling in. New devices, from the FaceID of the iPhone SE2, to the supersized iPhone X Plus are rumored to arrive soon. The redesigned Macbook Pro, a potential AR venture via Apple Glasses and automated driving software with VoxelNet also promise to keep Apple fans and shareholders happy.
With only weeks to go until the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on June 4th, we will soon know more about what the Cupertino powerhouse has in store for 2018 and beyond.
