Berkshire Hathaway Announces $4.1 Billion Stake in TSMC

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKA) announced that it had bought $4.1 billion worth of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC).

In a filing on Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, BRKA declared its acquisition of 60 million American depository shares of TSMC for the quarter that ended in September.

Berkshire is known to have a rocky success when it comes to the technology sector and has a reputation for choosing companies based on their “competitive advantages,” which they judged through size.

Even in the case of Apple, which is by far Berkshire’s biggest investment, it is said that Buffet views it as an investment to a consumer products company instead of technology. This is why among BRKA’s $306.2 billion equity portfolio, its stake in TSMC is considered a rarity.

According to Tom Russo, partner at Gardner, Russo & Quinn, that owns shares in Berkshire, “I suspect Berkshire has a belief that the world cannot do without the products manufactured by Taiwan Semi.”

“Only a small number of companies that can amass the capital to deliver semiconductors, which are increasingly central to people’s lives,” Russo added.

The news of BRKA’s stake sent TSMC’s stock soaring to 7.9% as investors gained positive sentiment for the giant chipmaker. Before this, the Taiwanese chipmaker fell into its two-year low last month due to a slowdown in chip demand.

This stake announcement from BRKA happened just two and a half months after it reduced its multibillion-dollar stake in China’s biggest electric car company, BYD Co.

 

Berkshire’s Other Stakes

In the filing on Monday, Berkshire also announced other stakes and adjustments. This included its $13 million shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc, $297 million wager in Louisiana-Pacific Corp, and an exit of investment from the real estate company Store Capital Corp.

However, the filing did not confirm if there was a specific purchase and sales from Buffet or his portfolio managers, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs.

Berkshire also added stakes in Occidental Petroleum Corp, Chevron Corp, Paramount Global, Celanese Corp, and RH in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, BRKA sold shares from US Bancorp, General Motors Co, Kroger Co, Activision Blizzard Inc, and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

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