BRK.A: Berkshire Hathaway Swings to $36bn Profit, Boosted by Giant Apple Stake

Warren Buffett’s empire of holdings ended the quarter sitting on a mind-boggling $147bn cash pile.

• Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, Warren Buffett’s sprawling conglomerate, added another winning quarter to its 58-year-long stellar run. The holding company posted net income of $35.9bn, compared with a loss of $43.8bn in the year-ago quarter. Thank Apple for the results (partly).
• While most of Berkshire’s underlying businesses gained, it was the Apple stake that contributed the most. The iPhone maker’s shares rose 17% in a fairly weak quarter and Buffett’s empire has allocated half of its $353bn equity portfolio to the iPhone maker. More precisely, Berkshire owns about 6% of Apple, or about 915mn shares worth $177.6bn.
• The Oracle of Omaha, as Buffett is known, didn’t find many good deals in the second quarter. Berkshire finished the trimester with $147.4bn in cash and cash equivalents, bolstering his treasury from $130bn at the end of the first quarter. How many cherry cokes is that?