Billionaire investor Charlie Munger is singing Apple’s praises. While the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) vice chairman, and Warren Buffett, Berkshire chairman, regularly point to their relative lack of knowledge of the tech industry, Apple (AAPL) is now Berkshire’s largest stock holding.
The reason? Apple’s management.
“I think Apple is one of the strong companies and will stay a strong company,” Munger told Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer in an exclusive interview.
“I think it's ungodly well-managed,” he added.
Munger’s comments came ahead of his appearance at The Daily Journal’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, during which The Daily Journal chairman opined on everything from crypto to investing in China.
Over the past several years, Berkshire has built up its stake in Apple and other tech firms including Verizon and Amazon. But Munger is most impressed by Apple.
“I judge the strength of the company based on how much the customers love it,” he said. “And I've got zillions of friends who they'd almost part with their right arm before they'd part with their iPhone. That's a hugely powerful position to be in.”
Apple has consistently posted impressive earnings results quarter after quarter. Take its Q1 report, for instance. While the pandemic and related supply chain crunch impacted Apple’s iPad sales, the company still managed to move a record $71.6 billion worth of iPhones.
It wasn’t just iPhones that sold well either, Apple also saw record revenue across its Mac, services and wearables businesses.
Over the last 12 months, Apple’s shares have climbed 28%, that’s more or less tied with Google, up 27%, and better than peers like Microsoft, up 20%, and Amazon, which is down 3%.
Apple is also expected to roll out a number of new products this year, including a low-cost, 5G-capable iPhone SE, new Macs and iPads, and of course, its next-generation iPhone. Apple is also said to be preparing its first virtual reality/augmented reality headset for release later this year.
That product would be Apple’s first new major device release since it debuted the Apple Watch in 2015. It would also mark what could be Apple’s first steps into the metaverse, something that other companies, like Facebook parent Meta, are banking on as the next evolution of the internet.
Regardless, if Apple continues to perform as well as it has under CEO Tim Cook, it’ll likely continue to have Munger and Buffett’s backing.
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