In early 2022, billionaire Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, began to have a love affair with HP HPQ stock. In April last year, it was reported that Berkshire purchased about 121 million shares of HP, owning over 12% of the company.
In May of 2023, Berkshire purchased 16.48 million more shares of HP. Recently, however, Buffett’s love for the computer, print and hardware company seems to have died down somewhat; the billionaire has begun trimming Berkshire’s HP holding, according to filings and deals with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Because Berkshire had over a 10% stake in HP, the company was required to file a plethora of Form 4s with the SEC, and has been doing so since September. The filings show that Berkshire has sold 33,339,676 shares of HP stock, pushing Berkshire’s stake in HP to less than 10%.
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What may have caused Berkshire to start selling its HP stock is HP’s underperforming third-quarter results. The PC company’s net revenue in the third quarter was $13.2 billion, down 9.9% from the same time last year.
"While we expect another quarter of sequential growth in Q4, the external environment has not improved as quickly as anticipated and we are moderating our expectations as a result,” said Enrique Lores, HP president and CEO.
In 2022, Buffett bought HP stock for a little over $30 a share when the company was experiencing a period of growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, HP’s shares are selling for about $27 as the company is experiencing a period of decline. HP's previous growth cycle has likely come to an end as a result of consumers now having all the home office equipment they need.
More insight into Berkshire’s selling and buying habits is expected to be unveiled in its latest 13F filings with the SEC next week.
