Warren Buffett-owned Berkshire Hathaway sold another $40 million worth of BYD shares this month in its latest move to cut stake in the Chinese electric vehicle maker.
The investment firm sold 1.3 million Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD for HK$310.5 million ($39.8 million), a stock exchange filing showed on Monday.
The sale on June 11 lowered Berkshire’s holdings in BYD’s issued H-shares to 6.90% from 7.02%, the filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange showed.
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That’s down from a 20.49% stake Buffett held in BYD’s H shares in August 2022, when it began selling off its holdings in the carmaker.
Berkshire’s stake in BYD is effectively down more than 66%.
The sale comes at a time when BYD — short for Build Your Dreams — has continued its blistering profit growth and expansion in global markets.
The carmaker briefly overtook US electric vehicle maker Tesla as the world’s largest EV-seller in the last quarter of 2023, before giving back that crown early this year.
The firm continues to gun for Tesla’s crown this year with offerings such as the BYD Seagull, which is priced less than a third of its US rival’s entry-level Model 3 in China.
Analysts say the car is as technologically advanced as any Western rival, despite the low price, and could be a significant competitor in European markets.
But for investors like Buffett, a major concern remains the worsening trade and tech ties between China and the US — something the investment mogul sounded the alarm on last year.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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