Warren Buffett surprises by slashing Berkshire Hathaway's longtime Apple stake in second quarter

Investor Warren Buffett's company recorded a $47 billion gain on stock sales during the second quarter as he slashed Berkshire Hathaway's massive Apple stake, but a drop in the paper value of its remaining investments drug down earnings despite improvements in the myriad companies it owns.

Selling off a big chunk of its Apple holdings was the quarter's biggest news — Buffett once called the company's stake in the iPhone maker a pillar of Berkshire’s business that he intended to hold indefinitely.

The other major investment moves Buffett made during the quarter included continued cuts to its investment in Chinese EV maker BYD and selling off some of its Bank of America stock.

Berkshire didn't give an exact count of its Apple shares in Saturday's report, but it estimated the investment was worth $84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter even though shares soared over the summer as high as $237.23.

At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire's Apple stake was worth $135.4 billion.

Berkshire said it earned $30.348 billion, or $21,122 per Class A share, during the second quarter. That's down from $35.912 billion, or $24,775 per A share, a year ago when the paper value of its investment portfolio was up $24.2 billion. This year the value of the investments Berkshire continues to hold fell $28.2 billion.

Buffett has long cautioned investors that it's better to look at Berkshire's operating earnings when judging its performance because those figures exclude investment gains and losses which can vary widely from quarter to quarter. By that measure, Berkshire's operating earnings grew more than 15% to $11.598 billion, or $8,072.16 per Class A share, from $10.043 billion, or $6,928.40 per Class A share, a year ago. Geico led the improvement of Berkshire's businesses while many of its other companies that are more sensitive to the economy reported lackluster results.

The results easily topped the $6,530.25 earnings per share that four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted.

Berkshire owns an assortment of insurance businesses along with BNSF railroad, several major utilities and a varied collection of retail and manufacturing businesses, including brands like Dairy Queen and See's Candy.