Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, told CNBC’s ” Halftime Report ” on Friday that he added to his CBRE position after the stock plunged on investor fears that artificial intelligence could weigh on office real estate demand. CBRE and a slate of office real estate stocks dropped this week after Elon Musk said last week on a podcast that AI will one day replace the office towers that were once filled with workers. Shares of CBRE tanked 12% on Wednesday, and they’re heading for a 16% decline on the week. Fears that the world of commercial real estate is in for a shakeup from AI are overdone, according to Brown. “Literally none of this is disruptable,” he said. “These stocks have just been absolutely crowbarred. But if you know literally anything about commercial real estate, you understand that nothing that’s playing on your screen is based on reality.” CBRE 5D mountain CBRE 5D chart Brown pointed out that commercial real estate has since rebounded from Covid, when investors had similarly misguided views of “empty skyscrapers all over the world.” “If you didn’t learn your lesson from that, I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “I just think that’s such an insane narrative. I don’t believe it, and I think we’re all going to have a good laugh five years from now when it doesn’t materialize.” Brown added that buying CBRE on the current dip was an easy decision. “I looked at this and laughed. I hit the buy button this morning. I’m not telling you it’s a forever hold. I think it’s an easy trade,” he said.
