Anthropic may accept valuation below $1.5 trillion as anticipated IPO approaches
Key Facts
Anthropic may have to accept a valuation below the $1.5 trillion it was targeting for its initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal reported on November 5. The prospect follows a sharp selloff in technology stocks that has raised concern among key investors about the anticipated deal. Three major investors planning to participate in the offering told the newspaper that the valuation likely needs to be lowered. One of them said it could approach $1 trillion. That would mark a potential retreat from earlier estimates that placed the company’s valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion.
The issue extends beyond the valuation: Anthropic had been scheduled to target an offering in the week of November 16. The deal was expected to raise as much as $100 billion, which would make it the largest IPO ever if achieved. But one investor raised the possibility of delaying the listing, while the report said reducing the offering’s size was another option. The deal’s value, size and timing therefore remain under review amid investor reservations. Anthropic did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment, while Reuters said the company declined to comment on investors’ doubts.
The report coincided with a broad decline in technology stocks during Thursday’s session on November 5. Companies in the Nasdaq Composite lost $2.5 trillion in market value during the session as investors retreated from bets on artificial intelligence, according to coverage citing The Wall Street Journal. The Associated Press said the S&P 500 fell 4.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by more than 1,800 points, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 5.5%. The agency attributed the fall’s leadership to companies involved in building AI data centers. The moves came as investors grew increasingly concerned about the amount of money flowing into the sector.
Anthropic’s plans matter beyond the company itself because of the potential size of the deal and its close business ties with Google, Amazon and Nvidia, according to the report. Coverage links those relationships to the potential listing plans’ broader effects on markets and the economy. The company announced on May 28 that it had raised $65 billion in a Series H funding round at a post-money valuation of $965 billion. It said at the time that its estimated annual revenue had exceeded $47 billion earlier that month. Those figures provide context for the valuation trajectory surrounding the company before investors’ reported possibility of a lower offering value.
In company disclosures covered by Reuters, revenue reached $16.96 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 47% from the previous quarter. Revenue growth had reached 144% in the second quarter, showing a slowdown in the pace of increase between the two periods. Reuters also reported that Anthropic’s computing commitments with partners including Amazon and Google approached $900 billion. Disclosures cited by the agency detail $895.4 billion in AI infrastructure spending commitments through December 31, 2030. About $69.8 billion of that is due in the 12 months following September 30, 2026.
Anthropic said in its disclosure that a disruption to financing or credit support for computing providers and infrastructure partners could affect contracted capacity. It said that capacity could be delayed, repriced, reduced or not delivered if financing or support became unavailable or more costly. In the context of the offering, investors are also waiting for the October revenue figure, which the company left blank in the amended S-1 filing, Reuters reported. The roadshow was initially expected to begin in the week of November 9, according to the agency. The final valuation, offering size and timing remain options under consideration in light of investors’ positions and developments ahead of the listing.