HP Shares Soar After Warren Buffett Reveals $4.2 billion Stake

Shares in HP Inc rose to a record high on Thursday, after a respected investment firm acquired a sizeable stake in the PC and printer manufacturer.

Veteran investor Warren Buffett, who is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century and is one of the world’s richest men, heads up the Berkshire Hathaway investment group.

Berkshire Hathaway took a 11.4 percent stake (or 121 million shares) in HP valued at about $4.2 billion on Thursday. This makes Berkshire Hathaway HP’s largest shareholder.

HP stake

The share acquisition pushed HP’s stock price up 14.8 percent to close at $40.06, but at one stage it rose to $41.46.

Companies’ stock price often rise when Berkshire discloses new stakes, as it is regarded as a stamp of approval from Warren Buffett, Reuters reported.

Berkshire Hathaway rarely invests in technology companies, but it has invested in Apple with a $161.2 billion stake in the iPhone maker.

Buffett however considers Apple more of a consumer company that he can understand, Reuters reported.

“Berkshire Hathaway is one of the world’s most respected investors and we welcome them as an investor,” HP is quoted as saying in a statement.

PC maker

HP is a spin off from Hewlett-Packard, after the Silicon Valley veteran in 2015 split itself into two entities.

One entity (HPE) is focused on enterprise technology, whereas HP Inc is predominately focused on hardware, such as PCs, laptops and printers.

During the past couple of years, HP has benefited from increased demand during the Coronavirus pandemic, as staff and pupils spent more time working (and being schooled) from home.

The Palo Alto, California-based company agreed last month to buy audio and video accessories maker Poly, once known as Plantronics, for $1.7 billion.