does berkshire hathaway own intel stock

A concise overview: Berkshire Hathaway bought Intel shares in late 2011/early 2012 and liquidated the position by mid‑2012, according to SEC 13F filings and contemporaneous press reports. This arti...

2026-01-20 11:47:00

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Berkshire Hathaway ownership of Intel (INTC)

Asking "does berkshire hathaway own intel stock" is a common question for investors tracking large institutional moves. As of the events covered here, Berkshire Hathaway did buy shares of Intel in late 2011 and early 2012 but sold its entire stake by mid‑2012. The primary documentary sources for this account are SEC Form 13F filings and contemporaneous press coverage.

This article explains the timeline of purchases and sales, the documentary evidence, media and analyst commentary at the time, and the significance of the episode for investors who check institutional holdings. It also points readers to where they can confirm up‑to‑date holdings and offers a brief note on Bitget for those who want a modern trading platform and wallet solution.

Quick answer: does berkshire hathaway own intel stock? No — Berkshire bought Intel shares in late 2011/early 2012 but had sold the position by mid‑2012 according to 13F disclosures and press reports.

Background

Berkshire Hathaway is best known for a value investing, buy‑and‑hold approach under the long‑term leadership of Warren Buffett. When Berkshire enters a public equity position, it draws attention because the company historically prefers concentrated, long‑dated stakes in businesses it understands.

Buffett has historically expressed caution toward technology companies, citing the difficulty of forecasting long‑term moats in rapidly changing industries. That makes a Berkshire position in a large chipmaker noteworthy. A short‑lived stake in a major semiconductor company therefore raised questions about who made the trade (Buffett or deputies such as Todd Combs and Ted Weschler), and whether the move reflected a strategic rethink or a tactical, short‑term trade.

Timeline of Berkshire’s Intel transactions

This section summarizes the chronology reported at the time. Reporting relied on quarterly SEC 13F filings (which disclose holdings as of quarter‑end), data aggregated by insurance regulators in some stories, and contemporaneous press coverage. Reported amounts and timing vary slightly across sources; the picture below combines the commonly reported facts.

Late 2011: Initial purchases were reported in filings and press coverage showing Berkshire had begun to accumulate Intel shares. Several news outlets noted Intel appearing in Berkshire’s 13F reports covering late 2011 quarters.
Q4 2011 / Q1 2012: Additional increases were reported around the turn of the year and in filings covering early 2012, consistent with a period of accumulation.
Mid‑2012: By mid‑2012, Berkshire had sold its entire reported Intel position according to subsequent 13F disclosures and press reporting. News stories at the time noted that Berkshire realized a gain on the trade.

Reported share counts and prices differ by source (press aggregation vs. raw 13F data) but accounts consistently show acquisition in late 2011/early 2012 and disposal by mid‑2012.

Reported purchases (late 2011 — early 2012)

Several financial news outlets and filings indicated that Berkshire began buying Intel late in 2011 and continued purchases into early 2012. The publicly available evidence for purchases comes primarily from 13F filings which disclose positions at quarter end, and from news organizations that parsed those filings and NAIC/industry data.

As of the 2011 year‑end 13F and early 2012 press coverage, Intel appeared as a newly reported holding for Berkshire. Different sources reported varying totals — generally described in press accounts as 'hundreds of thousands to a few million shares' — reflecting differences in aggregation and reporting dates. Because 13F filings report holdings only at quarter end, trades within quarters can make two filings show materially different positions even when all trades are legitimate and timely.
The purchases drew notice because Berkshire had not been a frequent buyer of large technology names, and Intel is a widely followed semiconductor company with significant cyclical and competitive dynamics.

Reported sales and exit (2012)

Press coverage in mid‑2012 reported Berkshire had sold its Intel stake. The sale was captured in subsequent 13F filings and reported by news outlets that track Berkshire’s portfolio moves. Reports at the time noted that Berkshire realized a profit on the sequence of trades, although reported realized‑gain figures varied between outlets.

By a mid‑2012 13F filing, Intel was no longer listed as a meaningful position for Berkshire. Contemporary coverage commonly concluded that Berkshire had fully exited the stock by that point.
Media outlets noted the outcome as unusual for Berkshire because the firm typically holds major positions for many years. The exit was also highlighted because Buffett has historically expressed caution about semiconductor and fast‑moving technology businesses.

Reasons and commentary

Contemporaneous analyst commentary and opinion pieces proposed several possible explanations for the pattern of buying then selling Intel:

Buffett’s caution on technology: Warren Buffett has repeatedly emphasized caution with technology businesses because rapid change can quickly alter competitive advantages. Some commentators argued Berkshire’s exposure to Intel was inconsistent with the chief executive’s usual approach and therefore might reflect a deputy’s trade or a careful, limited exposure.
Business dynamics at Intel: Analysts pointed to Intel’s competitive pressures, capital intensity, and cyclicality in semiconductor markets as possible reasons for a conservative exit once short‑term objectives or risk limits were reached.
Tactical or portfolio management: Some coverage raised the possibility that Todd Combs or Ted Weschler — the investment deputies at Berkshire — executed the trades as part of portfolio rebalancing or opportunistic, shorter‑term activity inside Berkshire’s large, multi‑manager setup.
Availability of alternatives: Another suggested factor was that higher‑priority, larger opportunities elsewhere in the market made retaining a relatively modest Intel stake less attractive within Berkshire’s opportunity set at the time.

Commentators offered these as plausible drivers; contemporaneous reporting generally avoided firm conclusions about motive because internal decision‑making was not fully disclosed.

Market and media reaction

Financial media treated Berkshire’s reported Intel trades as newsworthy for several reasons:

Departure from typical behavior: Berkshire’s move into and then out of Intel in less than a year was framed as notable because Berkshire usually favors long‑term holds.
Buffett angle: Any transaction involving Berkshire prompts coverage due to Warren Buffett’s public profile; technology trades attract extra attention because Buffett often speaks of avoiding technology investments he cannot confidently value over decades.
Profit story: Press outlets reported that Berkshire realized a gain on the position, which drew summaries highlighting that even when Berkshire trades a stock for a relatively short time, the firm can still realize notable returns.

Overall, the coverage was factual and centered on filings and reported results rather than deep interpretive claims about Berkshire’s strategy.

Documentary evidence and filings

The primary documentary sources that underpin the public narrative are:

SEC Form 13F filings: Institutional investment managers with over $100 million in qualifying assets must file Form 13F quarterly with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Berkshire’s 13F holdings as reported at quarter‑end provided the backbone for identifying when Intel appeared and disappeared from the portfolio.
Press reports parsing 13F and NAIC data: News organizations that track large portfolios commonly parse 13F filings and, in some cases, insurance regulator summaries to produce more immediate stories about holdings. Those organizations reported on Berkshire’s Intel stake and subsequent sale.
Company statements and Berkshire disclosures: Berkshire’s annual report and shareholder letters provide high‑level portfolio context, although they typically do not itemize every smaller or short‑term holding.

Important limitations:

Timing of 13F: Form 13F reports holdings as of quarter end and is filed 45 days later. That means intra‑quarter activity can be invisible until the subsequent filing, and filings can make trades appear abrupt even if they occurred over a longer period.
Aggregation discrepancies: Different data vendors and news outlets may round or aggregate holdings differently, producing minor differences in reported share counts or dollar values.

Later status and follow‑up

After the mid‑2012 filings that showed the stake had been liquidated, Berkshire did not report a meaningful Intel position in subsequent 13F filings through the periods covered by contemporaneous coverage. That established the public record that Berkshire did not retain Intel as a long‑term, large holding after mid‑2012.

Over time, Berkshire’s technology exposure came to be concentrated in other, more prominent holdings (discussed in separate portfolio summaries). This Intel episode is therefore seen as a brief and isolated ownership rather than a sustained strategic shift into semiconductors.

Significance for investors

The brief Berkshire ownership of Intel illustrates several practical points for investors:

Institutional ownership is time‑sensitive: Past ownership does not equal present endorsement — always check the most recent SEC filings (Form 13F for institutions) or company disclosures to confirm current holdings.
Large firms can take short‑term positions: Even traditionally long‑term managers can accumulate and liquidate positions over short windows for tactical reasons or when deputies manage parts of the portfolio.
Filings have limits: Form 13F timing and aggregation rules can make interpreting the exact timing and size of trades nontrivial. Use filings together with reliable press analysis to build a full picture.

This episode is informational rather than prescriptive. It should not be read as investment advice.

References and sources

Below are representative sources that reported and analyzed Berkshire’s Intel activity at the time. Reporting dates are included so readers can understand the timeline. The reader should consult the original filings (SEC Form 13F) for raw holdings data.

As of late 2011 and early 2012, multiple 13F reports and press outlets identified Intel as a newly reported position for Berkshire (see quarterly SEC 13F filings for the specific quarter‑end snapshots).
As of July 2012, contemporaneous financial press reported that Berkshire had sold its Intel stake and realized a gain; those reports cited 13F filings and analyst commentary. (For example, business news coverage in mid‑2012 summarized filings and reported that the position had been liquidated.)
Analysts and opinion pieces in 2012 discussed possible motives — Buffett’s caution on technology, deputy managers executing trades, and portfolio opportunity costs. These pieces help frame the trade but do not replace primary filings.

(Readers should consult specific dated articles and the SEC EDGAR system for exact figures and the official 13F entries.)

Notes on accuracy and updates

Ownership status is time‑sensitive. The description above is based on filings and press coverage surrounding the late 2011 to mid‑2012 period. To confirm current ownership, consult Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent SEC Form 13F filings and Berkshire Hathaway disclosures.
Reported share counts and realized‑gain figures in press accounts may differ slightly due to reporting cutoffs, rounding, and varying data sources. Where precise counts matter, rely on official 13F filings that report holdings as of quarter‑end.
The question "does berkshire hathaway own intel stock" therefore has a different answer depending on the date: yes (during late 2011/early 2012), then no (after mid‑2012 based on public filings).

Practical next steps (if you want to verify holdings)

Check the latest SEC filings (Form 13F) filed by Berkshire Hathaway to see current listed holdings as of the most recent quarter‑end.
Review Berkshire Hathaway’s publicly released annual reports and shareholder letters for broader portfolio context.
For trading access or custody/wallet needs, consider Bitget and Bitget Wallet as platform and custody options that support major equity and digital‑asset workflows. (This article provides informational context only and is not investment advice.)

Final notes and reader guidance

If your immediate objective is to answer the narrow search query — does berkshire hathaway own intel stock — the concise response is: Berkshire bought Intel shares in late 2011/early 2012 and sold the entire reported stake by mid‑2012 according to SEC 13F disclosures and contemporaneous press coverage. For up‑to‑date confirmation, consult Berkshire’s most recent 13F filing.

To explore more about how large institutional holdings are disclosed, look up SEC Form 13F processes and sample Berkshire filings. To act on current market opportunities, consider using reputable trading platforms and secure wallet solutions such as Bitget Wallet.

Note: This article is factual and explanatory. It does not provide investment advice.

The content above has been sourced from the internet and generated using AI. For high-quality content, please visit Bitget Academy.