Investors discuss $1.5 trillion Anthropic valuation ahead of expected IPO
Key Facts
Some investors discussed a valuation of about $1.5 trillion for Anthropic as it prepares for an initial public offering, Reuters reported in October 2026. That compares with earlier expectations of about $2 trillion for the share sale expected in November, according to the news agency. The discussions concern the company's value when it lists its shares, as slowing sales growth weighs on valuation expectations. Anthropic announced on June 1, 2026 that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. When announcing that step, the company said the IPO would depend on market conditions and other factors.
Anthropic told investors that revenue for the third quarter of 2026 reached $16.8 billion, Reuters reported. That represents a 45% increase from the previous quarter, the quarterly comparison the company provided to investors as it prepared for the offering. A Reuters Breakingviews analysis linked slowing sales growth to competition over the prices of tokens used in artificial intelligence services. The analysis said that "the token price war increased usage but reduced revenue per unit." According to the analysis, increased use of the services was accompanied by declining revenue per unit, as price competition fed through to the revenue the company generates from that usage.
Anthropic previously raised $65 billion in a funding round in May 2026, according to its announcement of the round. The company set its post-money valuation at $965 billion, the valuation attached to that financing deal. In the same announcement, it said its annual revenue run rate exceeded $47 billion during May. The company described that figure as an annualised rate based on the pace of revenue, while the subsequent third-quarter total covered a quarterly period. The May round places investors' discussions of the IPO valuation in the context of an earlier financing for which the company disclosed the amount raised and its post-money valuation.
On computing infrastructure, Anthropic said in its funding round announcement that it had signed agreements with Amazon for up to 5 gigawatts of new capacity. The agreements cover additional computing capacity, according to the company's description, with the agreed amount set as an upper limit. It confirmed that Amazon Web Services remains its primary cloud provider and model-training partner. The Wall Street Journal had reported from Davos that Anthropic was racing to secure the computing capacity needed to meet demand for its generative assistant, "Claude." The newspaper's report placed the effort to secure these resources in the context of meeting demand for the service, while the company's announcement addressed the new capacity agreements and its cloud relationship with Amazon.
Alongside its IPO preparations, Anthropic announced in October that it would allocate 5% of its shares to the Public Benefit Fund. The company said the commitment of this stake was subject to shareholder approval, under the terms it announced for the fund. The mechanism includes an additional 2% stake for every 50% increase in the company's value above a specified baseline. The addition of that stake remains at the board's discretion, according to Anthropic's announcement, alongside the condition that the company's value rises. The fund's mechanism thus combines an initial allocation awaiting shareholder approval with potential additions tied to milestones in the company's rising value and decisions by its board.
As for the next step, a report published by Investing, citing the Financial Times, pointed to Anthropic's preparations for an expected IPO in November. That timing follows the confidential filing process the company announced it had begun in June, when it submitted the draft registration statement to the U.S. regulator. The offering remains subject to Anthropic's stated condition regarding market conditions and other factors affecting the proposed IPO. In its filing announcement, the company said the IPO would depend on "market conditions and other factors." Under these terms, November remains the expected timing for the offering, with its execution continuing to depend on the conditions the company specified when submitting the draft registration statement.