Berkshire Hathaway trims Apple stake, buys NYTimes stock in Buffett's last moves as CEO

In this articleWarren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway trimmed more of its Apple stake and began a new position in The New York Times in the fourth quarter, according to a new securities filing.The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed that it pared its position in the iPhone maker by 4.3% to $61.96 billion, per data from InsiderScore. Even with the cut, Apple remains by far Berkshire's largest equity holding.Berkshire revealed that it trimmed its stake in Apple and started a stake in fellow "Magnificent Seven" name Alphabet in the third quarter. The conglomerate had also cut its equity holding of Apple in the second quarter of last year after slashing its stake by two-thirds in 2024.While Apple posted its third consecutive winning year in 2025, rising around 9%, it still underperformed the S&P 500, which gained more than 16% last year. The stock has been lagging even more this year, falling about 3%. In fact, it experienced its worst day since April 2025 just last week.It's unclear whether the moves were done by Buffett or investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler. Buffett has viewed Apple as more of a consumer products company rather than a pure technology play, and the moves may reflect Buffett making the portfolio more easily manageable for his successor.In addition to the cut in its Apple holding, Berkshire disclosed a relatively small $351.7 million stake in The New York Times. The position is ranked 29th out of its 41 total positions.The fourth quarter marked the last quarterly period with Buffett at the helm of Berkshire, as Greg Abel – who had been serving as vice chairman of non-insurance operations at the company – took the reins as CEO at the start of the new year.Prior to Buffett's departure, structural changes were announced at the company, including one involving Combs. After resigning in December, the former Berkshire investment manager and Geico CEO joined JPMorgan Chase as head of its new Security and Resiliency Initiative in January.Buffett first announced at Berkshire's annual meeting last May that he was going to ask Berkshire's board to have Abel replace him. Though Buffett is no longer the chief executive, he remains chairman of the board.Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inboxGet this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.© 2026 Versant Media, LLC.

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