HP Stock Soars 15% Following Warren Buffett's Share Purchase and Becoming Largest Shareholder

Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
[Photo by AP News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] News that Warren Buffett, the 'Sage of Omaha' and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has acquired a large amount of shares in PC and printer manufacturer HP, becoming the largest shareholder, caused HP's stock price to surge on the 7th (local time). The asset value of Berkshire Hathaway, led by Buffett, increased by $650 million (about 800 billion KRW) in one day due to HP.

According to CNBC, HP closed at $40.06 on the New York Stock Exchange that day, up 14.75% from the previous day. The stock price soared after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had purchased 121 million shares of HP, surpassing Vanguard to become the largest shareholder. This is the largest increase in HP's stock price since the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.

HP was once a leading IT company in the PC market, but as the device market leadership shifted to smartphones and tablets, it had been relegated to a secondary player in the IT industry for over 10 years. Just before the news of Berkshire Hathaway's investment, HP's stock price had risen less than 50% since October 2009.

Berkshire Hathaway has not been particularly interested in tech stocks, but following Apple, which it began acquiring in 2016, it has now embraced HP as well. Investment bank Evercore ISI interpreted this as a positive factor, stating, "Berkshire's purchase of HP shares is seen as recognition of the company's strategy and intrinsic value."

Last month, Buffett made his largest investment in six years by acquiring the U.S. insurance company Alleghany for $11.6 billion, and he has been actively investing recently, steadily purchasing shares of energy company Occidental Petroleum, increasing his holdings to over 13% of the shares, valued at $7.2 billion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.