Over the last 18 months, Berkshire Hathaway has trimmed its Apple share count by roughly 73%, reducing its position from 906 million shares at the end of 2023 to just 238 million shares by the third quarter of 2025. Warren Buffett’s firm has chosen to redeploy capital into short-duration Treasury bills, boosting its cash balance and hoarding passive interest income rather than maintain exposure to a position that had become the conglomerate’s largest holding. This rotation reflects Buffett’s disciplined approach to taking profits following an approximately 60% advance in both Apple stock and the S&P 500 since October 2023.

In the three-month period ended September 27, Apple reported 8% year-over-year revenue growth, lifting total fiscal 2025 sales to $416 billion. The company’s high-margin services segment again outpaced the broader business with 15% growth in Q4, pushing its installed base of active devices to new all-time highs across every product category and geographic region. Strong free cash flow generation enabled Apple to repurchase $90.7 billion of stock during the fiscal year, while maintaining a net cash position on its balance sheet and returning hundreds of billions of dollars to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.

Despite its industry-leading ecosystem, Apple’s artificial intelligence initiatives have lagged behind competitors. The long-anticipated redesign of Siri was postponed into 2026, and extensive turnover within the company’s AI division has raised questions about Apple’s ability to integrate generative models and large language capabilities as rapidly as peers. Investors will be watching closely for proof of execution on the AI roadmap, since sustained leadership in user-facing intelligence features could be critical to justify the stock’s premium valuation on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 33x.