Buffett Drops Intel

Warren Buffett revealed Tuesday evening that his investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway

, dropped its prior 7.7 million share stake in Intel

during the quarter that ended June 30. This unprecedented move by the self-proclaimed long-term investor has traders wondering what scared him and Berkshire Hathaway out of Intel, and what may be the future for the technology company. In mid-July, Intel reported a better-than-expected revenue forecast, but lowered its expectations for the full year. It also gave revenue guidance of $14.3 billion, slightly below the $14.5 billion estimate from Wall Street analysts. Perhaps Buffett foresaw Intel's lowered guidance announcement. While Buffett dumped Intel, he built up a holding of IBM, signaling a major change in technology preferences. Just as Intel has been performing just below expectations recently, IBM has not been an outperformer either. Buffett may have seen value in IBM

with its lowered share prices during Q2. This could mean Buffett sees a significant gain in the near future for IBM, or it could mean he fears the outcome of the Apple

and Intel versus Samsung lawsuit will not be in favor of Apple. The move came as a shock as Buffett investment strategy tends to center around holding stocks longer than most other firms do, while investing in cheap, dividend paying stocks. Buffett has claimed to invest only in what he knows, so the move out of Intel could be a signal that rough waters are ahead for the micro-chip maker. Intel opened Wednesday at $26.23, down roughly 0.9 percent for the day.