Norway’s Central Bank Sells Apple Stock. It Bought Nvidia, Plug Power, And NIO

Norway's central bank has reduced its exposure to Apple stock while increasing its stakes in alternative-fuel car ecosystems and microchips.

Norges Bank sold Apple shares in the fourth quarter and purchased shares in Nvidia, Plug Power, and NIO. Among other things, the bank revealed the stock purchases in an updated form filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Norges responded that it does not comment on specific investments. As of the end of 2021, the bank's total assets were at $1.47 trillion.

The bank sold 26.8 million Apple shares, bringing its total holdings in the iPhone and Mac companies to 142.1 million at the end of the fourth quarter. Apple rose 33.8% in 2021, outpacing the S&P 500 index's 27% climb. The stock has declined 13% so far this year, although it is less than the index's decrease of 12%.

Among the devices presented at Apple's product launch event last week were a 5G version of the iPhone SE and Mac Studio, a workstation geared at design professionals. Apple posted solid results for the December quarter at the end of January. Earlier this month, experts said that Apple and other large technology firms' stocks may be on the verge of rising.

Nvidia is yet another high-profile technology company that has been losing money in 2022. The stock of the graphics-chip titan is down 25% year to date. Nvidia's shares, on the other hand, skyrocketed 125% in 2021. Norges Bank increased its stake in Nvidia by 15.4 million shares, bringing its total assets to 21.3 million at the end of 2021.

Last month, Nvidia canceled a proposed acquisition of semiconductor creator Arm. Nvidia later announced a solid fiscal fourth quarter, and CEO Jensen Huang stated that the business was "seeing tremendous demand." Despite the solid figures and outlook, Nvidia shares dropped, but Wall Street stayed bullish on the company.

The shares of electric and alternative-fuel vehicles haven't been doing well so far in 2022. Plug Power, a hydrogen fuel-cell tech company, has seen its stock fall 13% year to date, while Chinese electric-vehicle producer NIO's American depositary receipts have fallen 49%. The stocks of Plug Power and NIO did not do much better in 2021, with decreases of 17% and 35%, respectively.

Norges Bank purchased 2.6 million more Plug Power shares and 3.2 million more NIO ADRs in the fourth quarter, bringing its total holdings to 7.4 million Plug Power shares and 13.7 million NIO ADRs by the end of the last year.

Plug Power stated earlier in March that fourth-quarter losses were anticipated, but the forecast was bright, and the profile of hydrogen technology has been rising. At the same time, NIO stock just started trading in Hong Kong, where they finished in the negative on their first day of trading. NIO's sales decreased in February compared to January, while other Chinese EV startups experienced the same decline.