A whale in the corporate bond market is going on a diet.

Apple Inc.'s holdings of company debt shrank in the latest quarter for the first time since 2013, as the maker of the iPhone adjusts to new tax laws. The tech company held about $136 billion of corporate bonds as of the end of March, representing about half its pile of cash and securities, according to a filing this week. Its holdings of mortgage bonds and asset-backed securities also fell, the filing showed.

Bloomberg reported in February that Apple had been pulling back on buying corporate bonds with its overseas cash, based on people familiar with the matter. Now it's showing up in the company's numbers, as its holdings of the debt fell to their lowest level since 2016. Apple may be divesting its holdings or may just be letting the securities mature without reinvesting.

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Molly Smith

Molly joined Law.com International as a reporter in July 2024 after a couple of years working in business development and following the completion of a degree in journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. [email protected]