Warren Buffett's $123 billion Apple stake is worth more than Starbucks, Boeing, and IBM

• Warren Buffett's Apple position is worth more than Starbucks, Boeing, or IBM.
• The billionaire investor's Berkshire Hathaway has a 5.7% stake worth $123 billion, surpassing the market capitalizations of Starbucks ($92 billion), Boeing ($101 billion), and IBM ($112 billion).
• Berkshire's Apple stake is worth almost as much as Philip Morris ($124 billion) and Lowe's ($125 billion).
• Apple's stock price has soared by more than two-thirds to an all-time high this year, boosting the value of Berkshire's stake to a remarkable level.
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Warren Buffett's Apple stake has ballooned in value to the point that it's worth more than Starbucks, Boeing, or IBM.

The famed investor's conglomerate boasted about 245 million Apple shares at the last count, giving it a roughly 5.7% stake in the tech titan, worth $123 billion as of Monday's close.

The position is worth significantly more than the entire market capitalizations of Starbucks ($92 billion), Boeing ($101 billion), and IBM ($112 billion).

It's also more valuable than Target ($77 billion), American Express ($80 billion), and UPS ($113 billion), while tobacco giant Philip Morris ($124 billion) and home improvement chain Lowe's ($125 billion) are within touching distance.

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Moreover, if Berkshire's Apple stake was a separately listed company, it would rank in the 60 most-valuable companies in the S&P 500, and the 30 highest-valued companies in the Nasdaq 100.

Buffett and his team spent about $35 billion to build the position between 2016 and 2018, meaning they've more than tripled their money with an investment gain of about $88 billion. That reflects the breathless rise of Apple's stock price, including a 68% surge this year to an all-time high.

Berkshire's Apple holding now accounts for about 50% of the total value of its stock portfolio, and is worth more than 24% of Berkshire's market cap. It has also surpassed Buffett's personal fortune in size, and Berkshire's $87 billion gain on the stock exceeds the market caps of both Berkshire and Apple 20 years ago.