Warren Buffett says he sold Apple too soon and would buy more of it, though not in this market

“I sold it too soon. But, I bought it even sooner, so,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick in an interview Tuesday on “Squawk Box” in which he announced he’s bringing back his famed charity lunch.

Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding even after the conglomerate trimmed its stake to $61.96 billion at the end of last year, according to InsiderScore.

However, Buffett said Tuesday that he would continue to add to the position if it gets cheaper. He said the iPhone maker is not yet attractive even after falling more than 14% off its recent high, and dropping more than 6% this month. That’s amid turmoil in the broader market, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite in a correction.

“It’s not impossible that Apple would get to a price, we would buy a lot of it,” he added. “But not in this market.”

Buffett said the firm has made more than $100 billion in the stock pretax, and was favorable in his comments regarding Tim Cook‘s leadership of the firm over Steve Jobs.

“Tim Cook has done better with the hand. Steve Jobs — he couldn’t have done what Steve Jobs did — but Steve Jobs handed him a hand that Steve would not have done as well,” Buffett said.

“Tim was a fantastic manager, and he’s a good guy, and somehow he gets along with everybody in the world,” he added. “That’s a technique I wouldn’t have, for example, certainly my partner, Charlie Munger, wouldn’t have had it.”

Buffett stepped down as Berkshire’s CEO at the beginning of 2026 after six decades running the conglomerate. He remains chairman of the firm.