It looks like BRK paid $351 for the new $10B in shares, it was trading at $385 on Friday, so they got about an 8% discount to market. Not sure that is what I would consider "steep discount", but what do I know...


Have you ever seen one of those stores that jacks up prices on some items, then promotes a big sale offering markdowns (not far from the original price)?

That isn't what Alphabet has done here, but I feel the ostensible discount is pure anchoring. Alphabet is one of my favourite firms in the world, but the richness of recent valuation levels, to my untutored eyes, seems a lot more than the balm of an 8% discount to Mr Market's current mood.

I do think it will work out fine given time, but other than the formidable resilience of the business itself I don't see a margin of safety in the price.

It's a discount from "nosebleed" to merely "painful", but for the purchase of something that will ultimately prove valuable. I might think of that as good capital allocation but without evidence of good timing. Within the demanding standards of Berkshire's history of patience, there is perhaps just the tiniest whiff of impatience in the air.

Jim