World's largest investor Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway on Wednesday crossed the $1 trillion (roughly Rs. 84 lakh crore) market cap for the first time. It is the first non-tech company in the world to achieve this milestone. 6 more companies have reached this milestone. The company achieved this feat at a time when it acquired Bank of America, the second largest company in its portfolio, for Rs. 8,245 crore worth of shares were sold. These sales have been made over the past few weeks. Since July, the company has bought 129 million shares of Bank of America for Rs. 45,338 crores ($5.4 billion) sold. Bank of America shares have gained 31% this year. Some experts see this as a sign of a shift in Buffett's long-term investment strategy. Before this he had sold 38.9 crore shares of Apple. Three Reasons Buffett Sells His Preferred Shares… 1. Getting cash for successors, so they have a free hand Buffett turns 94 tomorrow, August 30th. At the company's current meeting, Buffett said he was feeling good, but at this age he would have specific plans in mind for his successors. He said the company's increasing cash burn was a result of its inability to find good stocks. In such a situation, Buffett wants to give his successors many opportunities. If he deposits Rs 16 lakh crore in cash, the role of his successors will be limited. They may be hesitant to change Buffett's decision. 2. Corporate tax likely to rise from 21% to 35%, so people are booking profits Buffett said on reducing stake in Apple, 'I'm worried about taxes. We pay 21% tax on booking profit from Apple. Earlier this rate was 35% and earlier it was 52%. The tax rate was reduced from 35% to 21% under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.' However, this deduction is to be removed next year and the old rates will apply. At these rates Apple's valuation would not be that cheap. 3. Buffett Bank of America Rs. 9 lakh crore is the owner. Bank of America's P/E ratio is much lower than Apple's, which is 15 times earnings, but it's near its highest level in the past seven years for shares owned by Buffett. Bank of America also saw its net interest income decline in the latest quarter. As of March 31, Bank of America had Rs. 9 lakh crore ($109 billion) in losses, the largest in the banking sector. Buffett bought these shares when investors panicked Berkshire Hathaway still holds 90.38 crore shares of Bank of America, worth a total of Rs. 3.01 lakh crore ($35.9 billion). The investment is Buffett's second largest stock holding. Buffett did not disclose the reason behind this decision. Buffett held this stock even as he sold almost all of his other financial holdings between 2020 and early 2023. Yorkshire's Market Cap Grows at 20% Annually Berkshire's market cap has grown nearly 20% per year since 1965 until last year. This is almost double the annual return of the SP 500 during that time. This has made Buffett one of the richest people in the world and perhaps the smartest investor of all time. This year the market cap of the company has increased by 16.79 lakh crore rupees. Buffett began buying shares of Bank of America in 2011 after the 2008 recession, when other investors were wary of investing in the banking sector. Bank of America shares were around $5 then. Now it is 39.67 dollars. Also read this news… Warren Buffett sells half his stake in Apple: Cash stock rises to ₹ 23.20 lakh crore, he is the 7th richest person in the world American billionaire and investor Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has sold nearly 50% of its stake in iPhone maker Apple. The share has been sold. After this sale, Warren Buffet's cash stock has increased to a record 276.9 billion dollars (about Rs. 23.20 lakh crore).
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