Anthropic's Cash Hoard Tops Nvidia and Apple Combined Before IPO

Anthropic's cash and short-term investments hit $131.7 billion as of June 30, surpassing the combined holdings of Nvidia and Apple, according to CNBC. Disclosed lease and spending obligations total roughly $587 billion.

Anthropic typically places orders for most of its compute (computing power) 12 to 18 months ahead of delivery. Claude relies on chips from Nvidia, Amazon, Google, and AMD, meaning shareholders of those companies could have exposure to the associated costs.

Does Anthropic's Cash Cover Its Commitments?

Anthropic's S-1 registration, submitted Monday to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), comes ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). The filing shows $112.4 billion in cash and equivalents, plus $19.3 billion in short-term investments.

Data from CNBC and S&P Capital IQ indicate that only Berkshire Hathaway and Alphabet rank ahead of Anthropic among non-bank U.S. companies.

The filing, however, reveals $321.4 billion in undiscounted obligations for leases not yet started. Fixed or guaranteed spending minimums add another $265.6 billion.

Cash covers just around 22% of that combined $587 billion total. Still, terms stretch up to 20 years, so payments are spread out over time.

Contracts signed or changed after June 30 carry minimum payments of roughly $245 billion. Anthropic has not provided an updated overall figure, CNBC reported.

First-half revenue, meanwhile, reached $16.3 billion. Anthropic recorded a $693 million operating loss but $1.6 billion in adjusted operating income, a measure defined by the company.

Its compute agreements include take-or-pay clauses, according to the filing, meaning payment is due whether or not the capacity is used.

Who Actually Receives the IPO Proceeds?

CNBC, citing reports that the offering could exceed $100 billion, says total cash could surpass $230 billion. But existing investors are selling into the offering, so Anthropic won't keep all of it.

Anthropic gets nothing from those sales and plans to use its own proceeds for general purposes, including compute.

Separately, Anthropic has applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ANT. CNBC reported that offering details should be revealed in about two weeks.

Some cloud suppliers also develop their own artificial intelligence (AI) models, a conflict the filing highlights as a risk. By comparison, obligations exceed Anthropic's cash more than fourfold. Revenue growth, fresh capital, or both would have to close the gap through 2045.