Berkshire’s Apple Bet Shows How Much a Decade Can Change a “Buffett Stock”

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is known less for its insurance underwriting and more for the way it deploys patience in equities. In a recent market story, The Motley Fool pointed to Apple as the standout holding behind the “top Warren Buffett stock” narrative, calculating that a $10,000 investment made 10 years ago would have grown to $139,630 today, based on Apple’s total return of 1,300% as of June 4, 2026. The article tied the gain to Berkshire’s ownership of Apple, where it said Berkshire still holds roughly a 1.6% stake despite sizable share sales.

The key point is that Berkshire does not need to own a controlling stake to meaningfully shape outcomes. In Berkshire’s 2025 annual report, the company disclosed that its Apple position at December 31, 2025 was also 1.6% of Apple, with a cost basis of $6.255 billion and a market value of $61.962 billion. Berkshire reported receiving $280 million in Apple dividends in 2025. Because market prices move daily, the current valuation cited by the market article can differ from the year-end figure in the annual report, but the size and character of the holding are consistent.

The market article also emphasized that Apple’s valuation regime changed dramatically over the decade. It said that exactly 10 years ago, Apple looked like a “value stock,” trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.9. Over the period, the article claimed that P/E expanded by 246% to 37.7, driven by what it described as robust financial performance that improved investor expectations and sentiment.

Berkshire’s own reporting describes why Apple fits its approach to equities. In the annual report, Berkshire said it applies “fundamental value of capital discipline” to its portfolio of equity securities and that a “large portion” of the portfolio is concentrated in a small number of American companies, including Apple. Berkshire added that this concentrated approach would continue with limited activity in these holdings, while leaving room to adjust a position if it sees “fundamental changes” in long-term economic prospects.

The Apple story matters beyond one stock because it reflects Berkshire’s overall portfolio structure. Berkshire reported that at year-end 2025, its $297.8 billion equity securities portfolio was accompanied by significant concentration, including a group of positions whose combined market value was $194 billion, described as nearly two-thirds of the equity portfolio. Berkshire said these holdings produced combined dividends of $2.5 billion and yielded 10% on their original cost basis, another reminder that Berkshire’s equity strategy has both price appreciation and income components.

Even so, the $10,000-to-$139,630 calculation comes with important limitations. It focuses on what an investor would have earned from Apple’s stock performance over a fixed 10-year window, not on the exact path of Berkshire’s purchases and sales, and it does not necessarily account for how an investor would replicate Berkshire’s effective entry point or timing. The Motley Fool also does not provide details in the excerpted post on dividend reinvestment assumptions, trading friction, or whether the starting “decade ago” date aligns perfectly with the period Berkshire first bought Apple.

Going forward, investors will likely watch whether Berkshire maintains the same measured stance toward Apple amid valuation swings, and whether the company continues to treat its equity concentration as a long-term advantage rather than a risk. Berkshire’s annual report indicates that it expects holdings like Apple to compound over decades, but it also notes that equity portfolios can produce volatility, since unrealized market gains and losses affect reported results as prices change.