Leadership Insights

Why Buffett is sticking with IBM

No surprises at IBM: Buffett
VIDEO4:1704:17
No surprises at IBM: Buffett

Here's Warren Buffett's main reason for sticking with IBM: "Because I like it."

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"It's kind of been doing exactly what I like ever since we started buying it," Buffett told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. "People have this misconception that—when we buy a stock—we want it to go up. That'st the last thing we want it to do."

The Oracle of Omaha held a 7.79-percent stake in IBM as of Dec. 31, a stake that has cost him billions in paper losses. The company's 3.6 percent drop on Jan. 21 cost Buffett almost $400 million. Buffett also lost nearly $1 billion on Oct. 20, because of IBM, following a weak earnings report.

"There have been no surprises at IBM since we started buying it a few years ago," Buffett said. "We expected revenue to come down. We expected a year like this where foreign exchange would take a whack off revenues."

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IBM on Jan. 20 reported fourth-quarter earnings of $5.81 a share, down from $6.13 a share a year earlier. Revenue decreased to $24.11 billion from $27.70 billion.

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—CNBC's Ben Berkowitz, Karma Allen contributed to this report