No. of Recommendations: 18
Hmm, best to remember that P/B can't really be used to compare different companies unless they are extremely similarly structured and in extremely similar businesses. That warning even includes comparing P/B of a company to its own past if the structure of the business has changed.
I'm not saying you're wrong, or that it's meaningless...just a health warning that 2.5x book for one company might be much cheaper than 1.5x book for another company. The extreme example is fine companies with negative book value : )
I don't disagree that buybacks might restart if the price weakness of Berkshire shares continues. At a guess, I think Mr Abel might wait for the 2025 annual report to come out though.
I haven't done a deep dive, but year end book might come in around $493000-498000? So if that figure were known and published now, the current price would be around 1.443 - 1.457 times book? That's below my estimate of the highest multiple paid for shares repurchased seemingly for purely economic reasons, which in my view seems to top out in the 1.46-1.48 region for B shares.
Jim
