Yahoo Finance Warren Buffett's firm Berkshire Hathaway boosted by Apple stock surge
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway has enjoyed a leap in half-year profits, boosted by the record-breaking surge in Apple’s share price and increased earnings across a swathe of business units.
The firm beat Wall Street forecasts, with net profits for the first half of the year up 31pc to $10.9bn (£8.4bn), according to accounts filed yesterday.
Earnings were up across a number of subsidiaries, including auto insurance company Geico, car dealership group Berkshire Hathaway Automotive and rail freight firm BNSF.
Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio also leapt in value by around $5bn (£3.9bn), helped by the rise in Silicon Valley giant Apple’s stock.
The company said its stake in Apple was worth $47.2bn at the end of the period in June.
Apple’s stock has continued to gain in the intervening weeks, topping the historic $1 trillion mark last week.
Mr Buffett - who’s nickname is the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ for his talent in picking stocks - hailed the iPhone maker as “unbelievable” after its results beat market expectations in May.
The 87-year-old tycoon played down speculation he was putting in place plans to step down from Berkshire Hathaway earlier this year, insisting the has “never felt better”.
He promoted long-time executives Ajit Jain and Greg Abel to vice-chairmen at the start of this year, but said it was “part of a move to succession over time”.
Berkshire Hathaway’s four other largest investments are still American Express, Bank of America, Coca Cola and Wells Fargo, the firm disclosed.
Berkshire is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and has more than 90 businesses in the insurance, chemicals, energy, food and retail, industrial parts, railroad and other sectors.
