Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway slashed its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) as well as in some banks in the fourth quarter, while buying another 20.8 million Apple shares worth $3.2 billion, raising its stake to 5.8 percent.

Berkshire cut its position in TSMC by 86.2 percent to 8.29 million sponsored American depositary shares, according to a filing.

This comes roughly three months after Berkshire unveiled it bought more than $4.1 billion worth of TSMC stock, which sent shares of the world's largest contract chipmaker soaring.

TSMC depositary receipts fell 4 percent in U.S. in after-hours trade on Tuesday. In Taiwan, TSMC shares opened down 3.3 percent as Asian markets started Wednesday trading.

Depositary shares in TSMC have surged almost 32 percent this year, closing at $97.96 on Tuesday. TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Berkshire made a small profit on TSMC. It was not a huge, huge win for Berkshire," said Cathy Seifert, a CFRA Research analyst. According to her calculations, Berkshire bought it for roughly $68.5 and sold for $74.5.

It is rare but not unprecedented for Berkshire to quickly undo a multi-billion dollar investment in a company's stock. In the first quarter of 2022, Berkshire sold nearly all of what had been an $8.3 billion stake in Verizon Communications that it amassed in late 2020.

TSMC last month said revenue in the first quarter is likely to dip 5 percent as it weathers a global downturn in the chip industry because of softening consumer demand for electronics. TSMC executives have said they do not expect market conditions to improve until the second half of the year.

(Source: Reuters with edits)