(Bloomberg) — Shares of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) suppliers fell after Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B) nearly halved its stake in the iPhone maker, amid a broad market selloff Monday.
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Taipei-listed iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317.TW) and chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) each fell about 10%. Among component makers, Murata Manufacturing Co. fell 15% in Tokyo, while LG Innotek Co. fell as much as 13% in Seoul and Luxshare Precision Industry Co. fell 7.7% in Shenzhen.
Berkshire Hathaway sold a net $75.5 billion of Apple shares in the second quarter, raising Warren Buffett’s cash hoard to a record $276.9 billion. The billionaire sold shares as U.S. stocks rose to peaks reached in mid-July, before the recent wave of profit-taking on the artificial intelligence rally.
“It should be hard for anyone to argue that this isn’t a negative market move,” Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jonestrading, wrote in a report, referring to Berkshire’s sale of Apple shares.
Shares of Apple rose 23% in the three months through June, hitting a record high on July 16 as hopes grew for the company’s AI offerings. However, Apple’s new AI features won’t be ready in time for the initial launch of upcoming iPhone and iPad software overhauls, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Buffett’s firm said in May that it had trimmed some of its position in Apple in the first quarter of the year. Even after the latest sales, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest position.
“Berkshire was expected to continue cutting its position in Apple, although the size of the decline will likely surprise some,” Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli wrote in a note.
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