Peter Lynch – I missed a lifetime opportunity.

Legendary investor and money manager Peter Lynch, in an interview this week, mentioned that he regrets not investing in Apple even after tech skeptic Warren Buffett started investing aggressively in it in 2016, seeing its potential.

“Buffett started buying Apple, and it wasn’t that hard to see that the company had potential,” Lynch said. Apple currently accounts for nearly 50% of Buffett’s portfolio, with his investment having more than tripled, with Buffett calling it the “family jewel.”

Lynch was one of the most successful investors, delivering an annualized return of 29% over 13 years as manager of Fidelity’s Magellan fund and growing his assets under management from about $20 million in 1977. to 14 billion dollars by 1990

It seems that even the best make mistakes sometimes and miss out on one in a lifetime opportunities.

The author of the classic “One Up on Wall Street” recalls that his daughters once bought an iPod for about $250. According to him, back then Apple probably made $200 from every iPod sold and the balance sheet structure was really stable.

“I had to work on Apple a little bit,” Lynch said, noting that it’s not a complicated business and the iPod
paved the way for the iPhone.

Buffett’s Berkshire currently ranks among Apple’s largest shareholders with an estimated 5.8% stake. Buffett also considers Apple the most valuable holding in his $300 billion stock portfolio. The Berkshire boss called Apple a “family jewel” and “probably the best business” he’s ever come across, and praised CEO Tim Cook as one of the best managers in history. He also noted that he doesn’t understand all the technical elements of Apple devices, but recognizes how desirable and indispensable they are to customers. “We will never own a business that makes so many people happier and is so helpful to
them,” Buffett said recently, adding that most Apple fans would turn down a $10,000 offer to give up their iPhone and never buy another one.

In addition to Apple, Lynch said he regrets not taking a closer look at Nvidia. The shares of the giant for
graphics chips have more than quadrupled in price since the beginning of 2020.

The veteran investor also expressed concern that many people do more research before buying a refrigerator or a plane ticket than they do before making a $10,000 investment. He urged them to understand what a company does before buying its stock.

Separately, Lynch predicted that more banks would fail if a financial crisis hit, and revealed that he does not own any cryptocurrencies.

In conclusion:
Even the best have gaps or mistakes. However, it is important to learn from mistakes and keep improving. We must carefully analyze the opportunities, without prejudices and look for the best companies /good business, good management, but at a reasonable price/ that bring added value, both to consumers and to their investors.