Anthropic IPO targets around $1 trillion valuation, half the $2 trillion once whispered

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A listing of this size will test how much appetite there is for AI risk after the recent tech selloff. Strong demand would suggest investors still see value in leading AI names at lower valuations. The roughly $87bn raised between the public offering and the strategic placement could pull money away from other tech holdings in the run-up to pricing. Strategic investors Nvidia, Micron, Alphabet and Microsoft are also tied to the deal, so a strong debut could support the wider AI infrastructure trade. A weak one would likely weigh on it.-Earlier:Anthropic reserves up to 20% of its $64 billion IPO for retail investorsAnthropic IPO oversubscribed several times ahead of record $90 billion listing-Anthropic is coming to market at about half the valuation once talked about, with very fast growth and a large cash pile, but also with compute commitments that will test whether that growth can last.Summary:825 million shares are to be priced at $70 to $78 on 18 November, with Nasdaq trading as ANT from 19 NovemberThe midpoint raises about $61bn and values the company at around $1trn, or about $1.2trn fully dilutedAbout $26bn of extra stock goes to strategic investors including Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet and MicronQ3 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 underwritingCash of about $132bn is expected to rise to around $210bn after the IPO, against about $900bn of compute commitments through 2045Anthropic is set to list on Nasdaq next week at a valuation of around $1 trillion. That is well below the $2 trillion figure some on Wall Street had talked about before a run of AI-led selloffs hit technology stocks. The maker of the Claude AI assistant plans to sell 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each. Pricing is expected on 18 November, with trading under the ticker ANT due to start the following day.At the midpoint of the range, the offering would raise about $61 billion, Barron’s reported, citing the company’s filing and an investor presentation. Anthropic will also sell around $26 billion of stock at the IPO price to a group of strategic investors that includes Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet and Micron Technology. With about 13.1 billion shares outstanding, the midpoint implies a value of roughly $1 trillion, or about $1.2 trillion on a fully diluted basis.The growth numbers behind that price are steep. Third-quarter revenue rose more than 12-fold from a year earlier to about $17 billion, and October sales reached an annualised run rate of around $80 billion. The company reported an adjusted operating margin of 15% in the quarter, against 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 holds.Investors will need to look past 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 came to about $94 billion over the first nine months of 2026, and the company strips it out of its adjusted results. The convertibles will be swapped for common stock at the IPO.The deal also stands out for how much goes to retail investors. Up to 20% of the shares are set aside 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 say the deal is heavily oversubscribed, so many retail buyers may get small allocations or none at all.Anthropic goes into 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 scale of its spending commitments. Rivals include OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta and, in particular, lower-cost open-weight models from China. The company has signed up to about $900 billion of computing commitments through 2045, including $29 billion due in 2027. Whether it can keep growing fast enough to cover those costs and reach its margin target is the question the market will start pricing next week. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.