Warren Buffett is one of the most famous investors in the world. As CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he powered that company’s stock to an incredible 19.8% average annual return from 1965 through 2022, an unbelievable run for nearly half a century.
This means that Buffett and Berkshire beat the S&P 500 — which averaged 9.9% annually, by more than double for about 50 years. This is why investors flock to the handful of stocks that he selects for the Berkshire portfolio.
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One of the most noteworthy in recent years has been Buffett’s investment in Apple (AAPL), which now comprises about 28.12% of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio. This translates to 300 million shares, valued at $75.13 billion. So it begs the question: If you had played along with Buffett by buying shares and investing when he did, how would your returns have looked?
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What You Would Have Earned Investing in Apple When Buffett Did
Buffett made waves in the investment world when Berkshire first bought Apple stock in Q1 2016, and then continued and even accelerated his buying throughout 2016 and into 2017. Buffett had long been known for not investing in technology stocks because, by his own admission, he didn’t really understand them. He famously only invests in what he knows.
Buffett is equally known for buying good companies at a fair price, and Apple certainly fit the bill. While there’s no way to know exactly what his average share price was when he first started buying, if you use the highest closing that quarter as a conservative estimate, it means that you would have paid $27.06 per share for Apple.
As of April 28, 2025, Apple shares closed at $210.14. Here’s what that translates to in terms of dollars and cents based on different starting investment amounts and how many shares that would have yielded:
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Investing $100 (about 3.7 shares): $776.57
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Investing $500 (about 18.48 shares): $3,882.85
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Invested $1,000 (about 36.95 shares): $7,765.71
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Invested $10,000 (about 368.55 shares): $77,657.06
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Invested $39.2 million, the amount of Buffett’s Q1 2016 purchase (about 1.45 million shares): $304.4 million
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What’s Buffett’s Secret for Investment Success?
Buffett is a legendary stock picker, and that has gone a long way toward his impressive record of lifelong investment success. But you can apply some of his most basic principles to improve your own portfolio.
First and foremost, Buffett only invests in businesses he understands. If you’re going to be a stock picker like Buffett, you have to do your homework. If not, he recommends that you simply buy an S&P 500 index fund instead.
Buffett is also famous for saying that his preferred holding period for a stock is “forever.” In other words, he says that investing is a long-term endeavor, so you should avoid trading. Additionally, Buffett only wants to invest in companies that have a “moat,” or a protective barrier around them that makes it harder for others to compete against them.
Lastly, to succeed in investing, you’ll have to leave your emotions at the door. You’ll have to buy when things look ugly, and sell when they look too good. As Buffett puts it, you want to “be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
Put it all together, and Buffett’s investment philosophy might help guide you to your own successes.
Final Take To GO: Will Buffett Keep Buying Apple?
Even though Buffett had Berkshire Hathaway reduce its position multiple times, Apple remains one of the company’s biggest assets. However, the company’s recent dip may have created an opportunity for Buffett that is too enticing to pass up for the prophetic investor.
Apple is already nearly a quarter of the value of Berkshire’s entire portfolio. To meaningfully increase his stake, Buffett would have to pony up a sizable amount of money. However, rest assured, if there’s a market crash and/or Apple shares fall to ridiculously cheap levels once again, Buffett will likely step up and buy even more, based on his overall investment philosophy.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: If You Invested in Apple When Warren Buffett Did, Here’s How Much You’d Have
