Warren Buffett admits to a rare mistake with these 2 big tech stock bets

Stock markets are known for their upswings and downswings, leaving many investors with the feeling that they missed the chance to buy or sell a stock at the correct time. Legendary investor and billionaire Warren Buffett also feels he bought one stock late and sold one stock early, admitting he “made a mistake”.

Warren Buffett, considered one of the greatest investors of all time, recently admitted that he made a mistake by not investing in Google's parent company, Alphabet, sooner, although it was not among his favourites. Speaking to CNBC during an interview, the market veteran said he led the company’s investment in Alphabet, not his successor and new Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel.

Back in 2017, Buffett also reflected on missed opportunities with Google. He often explained that he avoided buying tech stocks because he did not understand how they were making money or whether they would continue to do so—a decision that he later said cost Berkshire investors a lot of money.


Also read: Warren Buffett says he initiated Berkshire's Alphabet bet, but it is not his favourite. Here's why

Apple, meanwhile, continues to hold the spot as one of Buffett’s top picks. Buffett first bought Apple shares in 2016, and it has grown into Berkshire's single biggest position. It accounts for nearly 22% of the conglomerate's roughly $263 billion equity portfolio.

In an interview earlier this year, Buffett said he sold Apple too soon and would buy more of it, though not at the ongoing market price then. “I sold it too soon. But, I bought it even sooner,” he told CNBC. Warren Buffett once joked that Apple’s outgoing CEO Tim Cook made more money for Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders than he ever did as CEO of the iPhone-maker. While Buffett sold a major chunk of Berkshire’s Apple holding, it still constitutes the company’s largest holding.

Berkshire invested about $35 billion in Apple during the period between 2016 and 2018. That $35 billion investment then rapidly surged to around $185 billion before tax, including dividends and gains, Buffett was quoted by Business Insider as saying. "And I didn't have to do a damn thing," he added.

Warren Buffett's fresh warning
The 'Oracle of Omaha' criticised the current stock market environment, highlighting that value investing is fizzling out as people prefer gambling instead. "It is tough to find value when everybody is preferring gambling," the legendary investor said in his latest interview with CNBC. He added that there are times when opportunities are just thrown at an investor so fast, and then there are other times when the investor is lucky to find one thing in a couple of years. "And it should always be that the latter is what prevails," the 'Oracle of Omaha' said.

"But since humans love to gamble so much, there is more money in actually cultivating gamblers than in cultivating investors," the 95-year-old Berkshire Hathaway Chairman said.

Also read: What is Warren Buffett’s best investment ever? It is not a stock

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