Warren Buffett: Obsessing over iPhone X sales in the near term 'totally misses the point' on Apple's stock - CNBC News

Warren Buffett: Obsessing over iPhone X sales in the near term 'totally misses the point' on Apple's stock
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | @BerkeleyJr
Published May 3, 2018
CNBC.com
Warren Buffett
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Warren Buffett
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said long-term investors of Apple's stock shouldn't obsess with near-term iPhone sales.

"The idea that you're going to spend loads of time trying to guess how many iPhone X or whatever may be are going to be sold in a 3 month period totally misses the point," the Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO said in a "Squawk Box" interview that aired Friday. "It's like worrying about the number of BlackBerrys 10 years ago."

Buffett revealed that Berkshire bought an astounding 75 million shares of Apple during the first quarter That adds to the 165.3 million shares Berkshire already owned at the end of 2017.

Apple has "a wide, wide gap. I mean its an amazing business. I mean here is a company that whatever the earnings are 60 billion or whatever and you can put all of their products on a dining room table," he told CNBC's Becky Quick.

Buffett spoke to CNBC Thursday evening from Omaha, Nebraska, where tens of thousands of Berkshire shareholders will be gathering this weekend for Saturday's annual meeting.

Berkshire first made an investment in Apple in 2016 after a person at the firm bought about 10 million shares. Buffett then looked at the stock and purchased considerably more, the billionaire recalled in August to CNBC . He added he's never sold an Apple share.

Apple reported quarterly earnings this week that beat expectations but sold fewer iPhones than expected. It also increased its quarterly dividend by 16 percent and announced a $100 billion buyback program.