Why Buffett Just Dumped 74% of Apple But Went All-In on Google With $4.3B

The Apple Story Nobody’s Talking About

Warren Buffett’s latest 13F filing (released Nov 14) revealed something that shook Wall Street: Berkshire Hathaway slashed its Apple position by nearly three-quarters over two years, offloading 677 million shares in six of the last eight quarters.

Sure, profit-taking ahead of higher tax rates makes sense. But here’s the real story—Apple just ain’t growing anymore.

Despite its loyal fanbase and premium brand, iPhone sales have flatlined for nearly four years. Subscription revenue is the only bright spot. Yet Apple’s valuation keeps climbing to a 37 P/E ratio—a 22% premium to its five-year average. For a value investor like Buffett, that’s a hard pass.

Translation: Apple hit peak valuation with zero growth. It’s no longer a bargain.

Then Buffett Did Something Shocking

While dumping Apple, he quietly poured $4.3+ billion into Alphabet (Google) in just three months—17.8 million Class A shares, making it a near-core holding at 1.6% of Berkshire’s portfolio.

Here’s why this move makes sense:

The Moat: Google commands 89-93% of global search since 2015. Even AI hasn’t dented that dominance. That’s pricing power on steroids for ads.

The Growth: Google Cloud jumped 25% YoY with a $60B+ annual run rate. Adding AI/LLMs to the platform? Even more accelerant.

The Balance Sheet: $98.5B in cash plus $112.3B operating cash flow through Q3 2025. That’s firepower for aggressive growth bets, buybacks, and dividends—all things Buffett loves.

The Valuation: 27 P/E paired with 13-14% projected annual growth beats Apple’s stagnation. More upside, less overheating.

What This Really Signals

Buffett isn’t betting against America or tech. He’s saying: Apple became expensive at the wrong time, but Google still has gas in the tank. This shift from maturity-play to growth-play reveals where the Oracle sees real value emerging in mega-cap tech.