[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, known as the "Sage of Omaha" and "Investment Genius," added shares of Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturer), to his portfolio in the third quarter of this year amid growing concerns about an economic recession.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others on the 14th (local time), Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in its 13F stock holdings report that it purchased approximately 60 million shares of TSMC between July and September this year. This is the first time Berkshire Hathaway has bought TSMC shares.
Berkshire Hathaway invested $9 billion (about 12 trillion KRW) in stocks during the third quarter, of which more than $4.1 billion was used to purchase TSMC shares. Following the news of Berkshire Hathaway's purchase, TSMC's stock price rose nearly 7% in after-hours trading that day.
One foreign media outlet evaluated, "Berkshire Hathaway generally does not invest heavily in large tech stocks but prefers companies that are judged to have a competitive advantage in terms of scale in the market." Buffett has previously invested in IBM and China's BYD but did not achieve significant profits, whereas Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway's largest investment.
Along with TSMC, Berkshire Hathaway also newly purchased 5.8 million shares ($297 million) of Louisiana-Pacific, a U.S. building materials manufacturer, and 430,000 shares ($13 million) of Jefferies Financial Group, an investment bank. Additionally, it increased its holdings in energy companies Occidental Petroleum, media group Paramount, and energy firm Chevron.
However, Berkshire Hathaway sold shares of grocery chain Kroger, U.S. automaker General Motors (GM), gaming company Activision Blizzard (which Microsoft is in the process of acquiring), and financial firms Bank of New York Mellon and U.S. Bancorp.
Based on the shares held by Berkshire Hathaway, the top five companies remained unchanged as Apple, Bank of America (BoA), Chevron, Coca-Cola, and American Express. Apple is Berkshire Hathaway's largest equity holding, valued at approximately $126.5 billion.
Earlier, Berkshire Hathaway reported a net loss of $2.69 billion in the third quarter in its earnings report released on the 5th. This marked a turnaround to a loss compared to the same period last year. Investment losses increased due to market volatility, and a massive $2.7 billion loss occurred in the insurance sector due to Hurricane Ian, causing significant impact.
Berkshire Hathaway stated in a release, "Quarterly investment gains and losses typically have little significance. Investors unfamiliar with accounting standards may misunderstand this." Chairman Buffett has also urged focusing on operating profits rather than investment gains or losses of Berkshire Hathaway.
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