Buffett’s firm has now sold 95 million shares of China’s BYD

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company has now sold nearly 95 million of its original 225 million shares of Chinese electric carmaker BYD’s stock, but it remains a significant shareholder.

Berkshire Hathaway said in a filing with the Hong Kong stock market Thursday that it had sold another 4.235 million BYD shares since last month. Disclosure rules only require Berkshire to reveal when its ownership stake decreases into another percentage point.

After the most-recent sales, Berkshire still held 130.3 million BYD shares or about 12% of the stock. At its last report late last month, Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, controlled 13% of the stock.

Until last August, Berkshire had never sold any of the BYD shares it bought in 2008. The stake Berkshire paid $232 million for had ballooned in value to be worth billions of dollars.

BYD, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, is one of the biggest electric vehicle makers in the world, having sold nearly 1.9 million cars in 2022 including pure electrics, plug-ins and hybrids.

Buffett didn’t respond to questions Thursday about why he was selling the shares, but he doesn’t typically comment on stocks he is buying and selling while he is still making those moves.

Many investors follow Buffett’s investments because of his remarkably successful track record over the years.

In addition to the BYD stock, Berkshire holds a sizeable portfolio with major investments in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and other stocks. Besides that, Berkshire also owns an assortment of more than 90 companies, including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad, several major utilities and a number of manufacturing and retail firms.