- Slightly increased its stake in Apple
- Trimmed 12 per cent from its Activision Blizzard position
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cut back its bet on TSMC (2330:TW), having only held the position for one quarter. In the third quarter, it acquired a $4.1bn stake in the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer but revealed in a recent filing that it has now sold 87 per cent of those shares.
The initial acquisition was in line with Buffett’s historical investment style, which is to look for good value companies with economic moats. TSMC has over 90 per cent of the advanced chip manufacturing market and is currently trading on an affordable Factset consensus forward PE ratio of 16. The massive capital expenditure needed to compete in the industry creates significant barriers to entry.