Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed a more than $1 billion stake in Apple in a rare foray into the technology sector, which Buffett has largely shunned apart from a poorly performing investment in IBM.
Berkshire made its investment in the first quarter, before the iPhone maker in April reported its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years.
The investment was announced amid an increasing view among investors that Apple may deserve a lower valuation because its heady growth days may be over.
However, Apple has a strong balance sheet and management, attributes long favored by Berkshire.
In a regulatory filing detailing most of its stock holdings, Berkshire said it held 9.81 million Apple shares worth $1.07 billion as of March 31.
The value of the stake has since fallen to about $921m, even with yesterday's gain.
Berkshire's largest technology bet has been Buffett's roughly $12.1 billion stake in International Business Machines, an investment now more than $1.6 billion in the red.
The Apple investment was made by one of Buffett's two stockpicking deputies, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, his assistant said in an email to The Wall Street Journal.
Combs and Weschler, who ran hedge funds before joining Berkshire, each invest about $9 billion and usually make smaller wagers, while Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha, makes bigger investments such as IBM.
Investors said Combs may have been the Apple buyer. He invested in chipmaker Intel for Berkshire in 2011.
In April, Apple said revenue for the quarter ended March 26 declined as an increasingly saturated smartphone market hurt iPhone sales, which fell for the first time.
Chief executive Tim Cook is looking to develop other technologies for the California-based company, and last week unveiled a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing.
Apple's market value last week dipped below that of Google parent Alphabet, even though Apple generates roughly triple the revenue and profit. Shares of Apple were down by a third from their April 2015 peak up to yesterday.
In his latest filing, Berkshire also reported higher stakes in IBM, Bank of New York Mellon, Deere & Co and Visa, and lower stakes in MasterCard and Wal-Mart Stores.
