Senior Wedbush Strategist Paul Dietrich told Business Insider that the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ may pick up stake in Apple and other stocks if the prices tumble.
Warren Buffett, the ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ may be reportedly trimming stocks because he’s expecting a stock market downturn, according to Wedbush’s Paul Dietrich.
The senior strategist told Business Insider that Buffett has a track record of exiting markets before recessions, noting Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B) has sold more stocks than it bought for 11 straight quarters even as equities hit record highs. He also highlighted that, over that stretch, the conglomerate offloaded $212 billion of shares while only purchasing $34.5 billion. This puts net disposals at more than $177 billion, exceeding the market value of companies such as BlackRock (BLK) or Boeing (BA).
Berkshire Hathaway’s stock edged 0.8% higher in midday trade with retail sentiment on Stocktwits in the ‘bullish’ zone amid ‘high’ levels of chatter. The stock has gained 5% this year and 8% over the past 12 months.
Dietrich suggested Buffett could reload on names like Apple (AAPL) and others if prices tumble. He said that Buffet would use his cash pile “to eventually buy back Apple and the other shares he has sold—but at a major discount—after the current nose-bleed stock market highs eventually come back down to earth.” In addition to Apple, Berkshire Hathaway has also been trimming its stake in Bank of America (BAC) this year.
Apple’s stock edged 0.13% lower in midday trade as retail sentiment on Stocktwits trended in ‘bearish territory. The shares have fallen 7% this year but gained 2.5% over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Bank of America’s stock edged 0.26% lower in midday trade with retail sentiment in the ‘bearish’ zone as well. This year, the stock is up more than 8%. It has gained more than 21% over the past 12 months.
Dietrich also noted that Berkshire’s cash pile has more than tripled in three years to a record $344 billion. He added that Buffett has also paused buybacks for four straight quarters, a sharp contrast to 2020 and 2021 when Berkshire spent more than $20 billion annually repurchasing its own stock. Dietrich argued that Buffett no longer sees Berkshire shares as cheap.
Buffett has followed this playbook before. Ahead of the dot-com crash, Berkshire grew its cash from $11 billion in 1997 to $35 billion in 1998, and boosted net sales to $2.7 billion in 2000. By the time the financial crisis hit, Berkshire had amassed more than $70 billion, allowing Buffett to pick up stocks on the cheap.
Dietrich added that the “Buffett Indicator” — the ratio of U.S. market cap to GDP — has soared above 210%, far above Buffett’s own cautionary threshold of 200%, which he once described as “playing with fire.”
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