Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has sold nearly half of its stake in Apple.

Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway She got rid of almost half of her giant size. apple Apple Inc. announced the sale of its stake in Apple Inc. in the last quarter, a surprise move for the investor known for his long-term focus.

Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in its earnings report that its stake in the iPhone maker was worth $84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, indicating that Omaha-based Oracle has shed more than 49% of its stake in the technology company. Even after the sale, Apple remains Berkshire Hathaway’s largest equity holding.

The Apple stock sale comes amid a broader pattern of selling by Buffett in the second quarter, with Berkshire selling more than $75 billion of stock in the period, boosting the group's cash pile to a record $277 billion.

Buffett cut his Apple stake by 13% in the first quarter, and hinted at Berkshire’s annual meeting in May that it was for tax reasons. Buffett suggested that selling “a small part of Apple” this year would benefit Berkshire shareholders in the long run if the U.S. government were to raise the capital gains tax in the future to help plug a growing fiscal deficit.

But the size of the sale suggests it may be more than just a tax-saving move.

After falling in the first quarter on concerns that it was lagging behind in AI innovation, Apple shares surged in the second quarter, rising 23% to a new record high, as it provided investors with more details about its future in AI.

It’s not clear exactly why Buffett sold the stake Berkshire first bought more than eight years ago, whether for reasons related to the company, market valuation, or portfolio management concerns (Buffett doesn’t usually want a single stake to grow too large). Berkshire’s stake in Apple was so large at one point that it accounted for half of its stock portfolio.

The 93-year-old investor had largely avoided tech companies for most of his career before Apple. Berkshire began buying the stock in 2016 under the influence of Buffett’s investment aides Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Over the years, Buffett has become so enamored with Apple that he has increased his stake dramatically to make it Berkshire’s largest holding and has described the tech giant as his second-most important business after his insurance group.

Buffett has been on a hot streak lately selling off some of his most important holdings. Buffett recently began cutting his second-largest stake — American bankwiping out $3.8 billion from the bank's shares after a 12-day selling spree.

Overall, the quarterly report showed that Buffett dumped some stocks last quarter, sending the S&P 500 to a record high in anticipation of a “soft landing” for the U.S. economy. That soft landing was called into question this week with the release of a weaker-than-expected July jobs report on Friday.