Anthropic IPO: $1.5 Trillion Target Faces Pressure from Investors

Anthropic’s planned initial public offering faces a potential price cut. Major investors are urging the AI company to lower its target valuation from $1.5 trillion. Some backers are even calling for a delay in the listing. The pressure follows a sharp decline in US technology stocks.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that three major participants in the offering believe the current price is too high. One investor suggested a valuation closer to $1 trillion. That figure represents a drop of about one-third from the previous expectation. Another investor proposed reducing the total capital raised from $100 billion to approximately $80 billion. The company plans to enter public markets during the week of November 16, just before Thanksgiving.

The Nasdaq Composite lost roughly $2.5 trillion in market capitalization on Thursday. This sell-off wiped out trillions of dollars from US tech firms. The decline came after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Those elections strengthened the position of politicians who view the rapid expansion of the AI industry with skepticism. Voters also approved restrictions that could complicate the development of new data centers.

Anthropic’s financials show strong growth despite the market turmoil. The company’s annualized revenue run rate exceeded $80 billion at the end of October. This figure is higher than in September. Demand for its Claude Code programming tool and other business products is driving this increase. However, the company still faces high costs for computing infrastructure and model development. It held $146.6 billion in cash as of September 30, but expenses remain substantial.

A delay in the IPO carries its own risks. Institutional investors who recently lost money in tech stocks may be hesitant to commit large sums to another major AI play. Anthropic has ties to Google, Amazon, and Nvidia. A reduced valuation or a postponed listing could affect these partners and the wider AI infrastructure sector. OpenAI, a rival, has faced similar scrutiny. It has secured only $11 billion of the $30 billion it sought in its latest funding round, valuing the company at $1.25 trillion.

Anthropic executives and financial advisers will meet in the coming days to decide on a path forward. The company has not yet fixed its final offering price, size, or exact timetable. It previously surpassed the record set by SpaceX in June. For now, the details of the largest potential IPO in history remain undecided.