Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway built a sizable new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor in the third quarter, according to a quarterly regulatory filing. The conglomerate added more than 60 million shares of the Taiwanese chipmaker’s American depositary receipts, worth $4.1 billion (1.2% of TSM) at the end of the third quarter, the filing showed. Taiwan Semiconductor was Berkshire’s 10th biggest holding at the end of September. The chip stock jumped more than 5% in after-hours trading Monday on the news. It’s down nearly 40% this year, however, as the semiconductor industry grappled with U.S.-China tensions and the boom-and-bust of demand. The Omaha-based company also took new positions in lumber maker Louisiana-Pacific (worth $297 million) and investment bank Jefferies (worth $12.8 million) in the third quarter, the filing showed. Berkshire increased its holding in Paramount Global to $1.7 billion at the end of the third quarter. The media stock has fallen 39% this year as it suffered from cord cutting and a drop in advertising revenue. As expected, the filing showed that Buffett continued to buy the dip in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter. Berkshire’s stake in the oil giant has reached 21.4%, worth $11.9 billion at the end of Septermber. In August, Berkshire received regulatory approval to purchase up to 50%, spurring speculation that it may eventually buy all of Houston-based Occidental. The “Oracle of Omaha” trimmed his position in Activision Blizzard last quarter, but the bet is still the conglomerate’s ninth largest, the filing showed. Buffett previously revealed that he bought the stock in a merger arbitrage play, betting that Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of the video game company will close. The deal is now facing antitrust regulators’ scrutiny. Apple remained Berkshire’s biggest stock holding by far, with a position more than $123 billion. The tech giant is up more than 7% over the past month, trimming 2022 losses to about 16%.
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