Warren Buffett Sold $3.2 Billion of Apple and Piled $4.3 Billion Into This Hot Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock

Berkshire Hathaway’s Q3 13F shows continued trimming of Apple—nearly 42 million shares (~$3.2bn) sold—reducing Apple to about 21% of the equity portfolio, and the addition of a new position in Alphabet of roughly 18 million shares (~$4.3bn), or ~1.7% of the portfolio (about twice Amazon’s weight). The filing highlights Alphabet’s fit with Buffett-style criteria—high margins, scalable low-capex model, a dominant search/ad moat (c.93% market share) and AI-driven revenue upside—although its P/E of ~28 is above recent averages; the stake was likely initiated by Berkshire portfolio managers Ted Weschler or Todd Combs. The moves signal a deliberate rebalancing away from concentration in Apple toward exposure to an AI-enabled advertising and cloud franchise while still reflecting valuation discipline.

Analysis

Berkshire Hathaway's Q3 13F shows a material rebalancing: the firm sold nearly 42 million Apple shares (~$3.2bn), reducing Apple to roughly 21% of the equity portfolio from a much larger prior concentration, while initiating a new position in Alphabet of about 18 million shares (~$4.3bn), representing ~1.7% of the portfolio and roughly double Amazon's weight. The Alphabet purchase was made during the July 2–Sept. 30 window, likely earlier in the quarter as markets rebounded from tariff-driven weakness.

The filing and accompanying commentary frame Alphabet as a Buffett-compatible business: high gross and operating margins, low incremental capex, and a dominant search/ad moat (Statista ~93% search share) with AI-driven revenue upside and growing leverage into cloud services. Those structural positives are balanced by valuation: Alphabet trades at a P/E near 28, above its three- and five-year averages, reflecting a recent run-up.

For investors the takeaways are directional rather than transformative: Berkshire is deliberately reducing single-stock concentration while adding diversified exposure to an AI-enabled advertising and cloud franchise, likely driven by portfolio managers Ted Weschler or Todd Combs. Key monitoring points are Alphabet's ability to convert AI into sustainable revenue and margin gains, the company's valuation relative to historical norms, and regulatory/antitrust developments given its dominant market share.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Consider modest exposure to Alphabet as a long-term core holding given Berkshire’s buy and the company’s AI/ad moat, but size positions conservatively because current P/E (~28) is above recent averages
• Re-evaluate Apple concentration in portfolios and consider trimming or hedging if exposure is unusually high, noting Berkshire itself reduced Apple to ~21% of its equity sleeve
• Use dollar-cost averaging or limit orders for new positions in GOOG to mitigate timing risk after the recent run-up and buy window, and monitor AI monetization metrics (ad RPMs, cloud margins) as catalysts
• Track regulatory/antitrust headlines and Berkshire’s subsequent 13F updates for evidence of follow-through or position scaling before increasing allocation