Blackstone Warns Anthropic Could Be Rated High-Yield After Expected IPO
Key Facts
Blackstone told investors that Anthropic may not receive an investment-grade credit rating after its expected IPO and could be rated in the higher tier of high-yield debt, according to a Financial Times report. This reflects an expectation attributed to Blackstone, not a new rating issued by a credit agency. On October 26, 2026, Anthropic filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of a proposed offering of Class A shares. The warning puts borrowing costs at the center of investors’ questions about financing the company’s computing expansion. The developments come alongside major financing arrangements to buy AI equipment for Anthropic.
According to Reuters, Bank of America, Blackstone, Citi and Morgan Stanley will provide $63 billion in financing to buy chips and networking equipment from Broadcom. Anthropic will not obtain the equipment through a conventional direct loan; instead, a special-purpose vehicle established for the deal will buy it and lease it to the company. First-lien loans total about $43.5 billion, or 69% of the total financing, according to two sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. Blackstone is handling the committed portion of the financing for the second-lien tranche, which ranks lower in the debt structure. This arrangement gives the company a dual role: conveying concerns about the rating to investors while participating in financing the computing infrastructure through a lower-priority tranche.
The financing comes as Reuters reported that demand for computing capacity is driving major investments and that Anthropic expects computing and infrastructure expenses to rise in absolute terms and remain its largest operating expense. But this information does not establish that spending was the reason Blackstone relied on to revise its view of the rating. Published financial data show rapid growth alongside substantial costs: the company generated $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026, about 14 times its level in the same period a year earlier, according to the Associated Press. The period’s net loss included a one-time accounting adjustment of $72.4 billion related to financing agreements. Meanwhile, the operating loss narrowed to $693 million, and adjusted operating income turned positive at $1.62 billion, compared with an adjusted loss of $1.85 billion a year earlier, according to Reuters.
Company disclosures showed strong revenue growth in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with revenue rising 1,368% year over year, according to Reuters. However, the prospectus warned that the revenue growth rate could decline and fluctuate from time to time. On October 26, Reuters reported that some current and potential investors valued Anthropic at about $1.5 trillion, down from nearly $2 trillion a week earlier, after the company disclosed financial information at an investor meeting. The Associated Press had reported that private-sector investors valued the company at $965 billion earlier in 2026, while the final IPO valuation had not been set. Reuters said the offering comes amid scrutiny of whether massive AI investments can generate returns that justify valuations, and quoted an investment strategist as saying investors had
become more selective.