Key points
- Investors are discussing a lower Anthropic IPO valuation
- One investor says it could be closer to $1 trillion
- Anthropic hasn't announced a change to its IPO plans
Some prospective buyers in the Anthropic (ANT) IPO are discussing a valuation of $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 6. That's down from the roughly $1.5 trillion investors discussed in mid-October and the $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion range reported at the start of that month.
One investor told The Wall Street Journal the valuation could land closer to $1 trillion. That would be about 3.6% above the $965 billion valuation in Anthropic's May funding round, by our calculations.
No IPO valuation has been set. Anthropic declined to comment to Reuters on investor doubts and hasn't announced a change to its timetable. Its Nov. 2 amended filing doesn't include a price range or share count.
What investors have discussed
| Date | Figure discussed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 28 | $965 billion, priced funding round | Anthropic |
| Oct. 1 | $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion | Bloomberg |
| Oct. 15 | About $1.5 trillion | Reuters |
| Nov. 5 | One investor: closer to $1 trillion | The Wall Street Journal |
| Nov. 6 | $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion | Bloomberg |
Only the May figure is from a priced deal. The others are investor discussions reported by each outlet.
Three major investors planning to participate think the price needs to come down, the Journal reported. Another said the deal could be delayed, while one suggested Anthropic could raise about $80 billion instead of as much as $100 billion. Executives and advisers are expected to meet in the coming days.
Reuters also reported doubts about the schedule. The roadshow was expected to start the week of Nov. 9, with pricing the following week, but potential investors questioned whether that can still happen. International Financing Review, which covers new issues, said in a Nov. 6 headline that the $100 billion IPO is still on track.
The discussions come after a sharp market selloff. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52% on Nov. 5, and chip stocks had their second-worst day in records back to 1994.
The blank in the filing is a run-rate number
Reuters said investors are waiting for an October revenue figure that Anthropic left blank. In the filing, the sentence reads, "our Run-Rate Revenue was $ as of October 31, 2026." The dollar sign is there, and the number isn't.
Run-rate revenue isn't the same as reported revenue. Anthropic calculates it by multiplying the last 28 days of consumption fees by 13 and monthly subscription fees by 12. The filing says the measure "is not a substitute for revenue prepared in accordance with GAAP or a forecast of revenue."
The number matters because growth has slowed. Revenue rose 47% from the second quarter to the third, after rising 144% the quarter before. Third-quarter revenue of $17.0 billion works out to $68 billion annualized, by our calculations. That's a separate calculation from Anthropic's run-rate measure.
The Journal reported that the run rate topped $80 billion at the end of October. Anthropic hasn't published that figure. Using $80 billion as a starting point, a $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion valuation would be about 15 to 16 times the run rate, by our calculations. The multiple would be lower if the run rate is above $80 billion.
Investors point to losses and commitments
Reuters said Anthropic may need to offer a bigger discount, given its quarterly losses and its large commitments to partners. The filing shows a $567 million operating loss in the third quarter, after a $974 million operating profit in the second. Anthropic also had about $895.4 billion of committed spending, almost all of it for compute and infrastructure.
Anthropic held $95.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $36.3 billion in short-term investments at Sept. 30.
Reuters said Wall Street expects Anthropic and its investors to agree on a valuation. "Valuations have risen for a long time in the private market, and we'll probably see some pullback," Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments, told Reuters. Reuters also said some analysts expect strong demand from retail investors, as with SpaceX (SPCX).
Even if they agree, Reuters said Anthropic could wait if AI assets stay under pressure. The next hard data point would be an amended filing with a price range. Our Anthropic IPO tracker logs each step.
