Motley Fool names Apple and Alphabet as Berkshire AI stocks built to survive a 2027 crash

Short answer: a Motley Fool analyst argues that Apple and Alphabet, two stocks Berkshire Hathaway holds, can keep growing even if the market crashes in 2027. The column is opinion, not a deal announcement. The only real deal behind it is Berkshire's $10 billion purchase of new Alphabet shares in June.

Here is who pays, who gains and what the argument rests on.

What the column says

In a column published on October 28, Motley Fool contributor Adam Spatacco says valuations look stretched. He points to the Shiller CAPE ratio at around 41, against a historical average of about 17. He also cites the Buffett indicator, which compares the US stock market's value with GDP, at around 230%. He notes Warren Buffett has warned that readings near 200% are dangerous territory.

Spatacco says neither measure guarantees a crash. His case is that Apple and Alphabet earn money well beyond AI, so a downturn would hurt their share prices without breaking the businesses.

Comparison: the two picks

All figures in the table come from the column. Spatacco says Apple Intelligence and a redesigned Siri could push upgrades, but that Apple does not need AI to keep earning.

Who pays and who gains in the Alphabet deal

The Alphabet half of the pick has a concrete transaction behind it. On June 1, Alphabet announced equity offerings totalling $80 billion to fund AI compute infrastructure. It also said it had agreed to sell $10 billion of stock to Berkshire in a private placement: $5 billion of Class A at $351.81 a share and $5 billion of Class C at $348.20.

• Berkshire pays. The cash comes out of its pile. Yahoo Finance, citing CNBC, says Berkshire added roughly $17 billion to its Alphabet stake in the second quarter. About 60% of the new shares came straight from Alphabet in the placement. The rest were bought on the open market.
• Alphabet gains. It raises money to build AI capacity. Its filing says proceeds go to general corporate purposes, including capital spending on AI infrastructure.
• Berkshire also gains, if the price holds. Alphabet is now Berkshire's third-largest holding. Morningstar's review of the filing lists Alphabet as the most-traded name of the quarter.
• Other Alphabet shareholders absorb new supply. The placement is part of a record raise of new shares, which is the trade-off of funding AI spending with equity.

Sources differ on the size of the raise. Alphabet's own filing says $80 billion. The Quartz report syndicated on Yahoo Finance says $85 billion. The $80 billion figure is the company's.

The price test

The Motley Fool page shows Alphabet's Class A shares closed at $324.89 on October 28. Berkshire's placement price for Class A was $351.81, so the stock sits roughly 8% below what Berkshire paid. The same page puts the 52-week range at $267.67 to $408.61. A drop like that does not show the thesis is wrong, but it shows even a Berkshire-endorsed entry price can sit under water.

The endorsement also has a source. Motley Fool reporting on Yahoo Finance says Buffett told CNBC in June that Alphabet was his idea and that Berkshire began building the position in the third quarter of 2025. That helps answer whether the Alphabet bet reflects Buffett or the new CEO, Greg Abel.

Why it matters for the AI market

Alphabet is one of several giants paying for AI capacity by selling shares. The Quartz report says its offering helped push US equity issuance to a record $251 billion in the first half of 2026, citing Bloomberg data. When one of the biggest buyers of that stock is Berkshire, other investors read it as a vote of confidence.

The risk runs the other way too. A separate Motley Fool piece cites Goldman Sachs strategist Ryan Hammond, who estimates AI users would have to spend at least $1 trillion a year for hyperscalers to earn enough on their investment. If that spending stalls, the companies funding data centres feel it first.

What to keep in mind

This is an opinion column, and it carries a disclosure. Spatacco holds positions in Alphabet and Nvidia, and The Motley Fool says it has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple and Berkshire Hathaway. The column itself says a crash would probably put short-term pressure on both stocks.

The verdict: the Apple half of the argument rests on its products and services income. The Alphabet half rests on a $10 billion Berkshire commitment that is already underwater at today's price. This is not personal investment advice.

Watch Berkshire's next 13F filing. It will show whether it kept buying Alphabet or trimmed Apple further in the third quarter.