Anthropic eyes roughly $1 trillion IPO valuation, half the $2 trillion earlier rumoured

A listing at this scale will gauge demand for AI risk following the recent tech selloff. Strong demand would indicate that investors still see value in leading AI names at lower prices. The roughly $87bn raised through the public offering and the strategic placement could draw funds away from other tech stocks ahead of pricing. Strategic investors including Nvidia, Micron, Alphabet and Microsoft are also involved in the deal, meaning a strong debut could bolster the wider AI infrastructure trade, while a weak one would likely drag on it.

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Earlier:

• Anthropic reserves up to 20% of its $64 billion IPO for retail investors
• Anthropic IPO oversubscribed several times ahead of record $90 billion listing

- Anthropic is coming to market at roughly half the valuation once whispered, with very fast growth and a sizable cash pile, but also with compute commitments that will challenge whether that growth can continue.

Summary:

• 825 million shares are to be priced at $70 to $78 on 18 November, with Nasdaq trading as ANT from 19 November
• The midpoint raises about $61bn and values the company at around $1trn, or about $1.2trn fully diluted
• About $26bn of extra stock goes to strategic investors including Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet and Micron
• Q3 revenue rose more than 12-fold to about $17bn, with an adjusted operating margin of 15% and a long-term target of 35%
• Up to 20% of the deal is reserved for retail investors, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley leading the underwriting
• Cash of about $132bn is expected to rise to around $210bn after the IPO, against about $900bn of compute commitments through 2045

Anthropic plans to list on Nasdaq next week at a valuation of roughly $1 trillion. That is significantly below the $2 trillion figure that some on Wall Street had mentioned before a series of AI-driven selloffs hit technology stocks. The company behind the Claude AI assistant intends to sell 825 million shares priced between $70 and $78 each. Pricing is scheduled for 18 November, with trading under the ticker ANT expected to begin the following day.

At the midpoint of the range, the offering would raise around $61 billion, according to Barron's, citing the company's filing and an investor presentation. Anthropic will also sell about $26 billion of stock at the IPO price to a group of strategic investors, including Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet and Micron Technology. With roughly 13.1 billion shares outstanding, the midpoint implies a value of about $1 trillion, or approximately $1.2 trillion on a fully diluted basis.

The growth figures behind that valuation are steep. Third-quarter revenue more than doubled 12-fold year-over-year to around $17 billion, with October sales reaching an annualised run rate of about $80 billion. The company posted an adjusted operating margin of 15% in the quarter, compared with an operating loss a year earlier, and is targeting 35% over the long term. That values the company at roughly 12 to 13 times October's annualised sales, a multiple that would shrink quickly if growth persists.

Investors will need to look beyond the headline GAAP figures. As Anthropic's private valuation rose, so did the value of convertible securities issued to early investors, and accounting rules treat that increase as a loss. That noncash charge totalled about $94 billion over the first nine months of 2026, and the company excludes it from its adjusted results. The convertibles will be swapped for common stock at the IPO.

The deal is also notable for how much it sets aside for retail investors. Up to 20% of the shares are reserved for individuals. They will be sold through the main underwriting group, led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and through retail brokers such as Robinhood, Charles Schwab and Fidelity. Reports indicate the deal is heavily oversubscribed, meaning many retail buyers may receive small allocations or none at all.

Anthropic enters the listing with about $132 billion of cash and no conventional debt, a figure expected to rise to around $210 billion after the offering. The bigger risks are competition and the size of its spending commitments. Rivals include OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta and, particularly, lower-cost open-weight models from China. The company has committed to about $900 billion in computing commitments through 2045, including $29 billion due in 2027. Whether it can sustain growth fast enough to cover those costs and achieve its margin target is the question the market will begin pricing next week.