A possible record-setting debut
The offering could exceed the $86 billion SpaceX raised in June, which set the record for an initial public offering. Anthropic plans to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
People familiar with the plans told The Wall Street Journal that Anthropic is targeting the week of November 16, 2026, for the start of trading, following an investor roadshow scheduled for the week of November 9. That timetable could still change.
The S-1 registration statement, made public on October 26, names Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as representatives of the offering's 22 underwriting banks. Goldman Sachs has the "lead left" position.
A November debut would put Anthropic ahead of OpenAI in reaching public markets. OpenAI confidentially filed for a US IPO in June, but CEO Sam Altman said in September that it would not go public in 2026, citing safety concerns. Reuters reports that OpenAI is seeking investor commitments before Anthropic's expected mid-November listing in a fundraising that could value OpenAI at more than $1.4 trillion.
Valuation remains unsettled
Anthropic's last private funding round, in late May 2026, brought in $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion. Estimates for its value at the IPO have reached $1.5 trillion or even $2 trillion, though recent investor expectations have moderated.
After the company shared financial details at a mid-October investor event, some current and prospective investors discussed a valuation of about $1.5 trillion, rather than the roughly $2 trillion previously expected, according to Reuters. Existing investors expect Anthropic to seek $1.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, the Financial Times reported in The Irish Times.
Even at $1.5 trillion, the five-year-old company would rank among the world's most valuable publicly traded businesses. The listing could also add billions to the wealth of CEO Dario Amodei and his sister and co-founder, Daniela Amodei.
The company's valuation is separate from the money it would receive from selling shares. Reports put potential IPO proceeds at up to $100 billion, but neither the amount raised nor the final share price has been settled.
Before SpaceX's June listing, Saudi Aramco held the global IPO record with its $25.6 billion offering in 2019. Visa's $17.9 billion debut in 2008 had been the largest US listing. SpaceX ended its first trading day at $160.95 a share, giving it a market value of $2.1 trillion.
Revenue surges, with a large accounting loss
Anthropic's 335-page filing reports $16.3 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026, compared with $1.2 billion a year earlier. Its net loss for the same period reached $80.7 billion.
About 90% of that loss came from accounting write-downs associated with higher valuations of obligations such as convertible notes. As Anthropic's value increased, the calculated value of those obligations rose as well.
The quarterly operating figures showed a different picture. According to The Next Web's account of the filing, Anthropic earned its first operating profit in the second quarter: $974 million on revenue of $11.6 billion. Across the full first half, however, it recorded an operating loss of $693 million.
Excluding note revaluations and stock-based compensation, first-half operating income was $1.6 billion, representing a 10% margin.
More recently, Anthropic told backers that third-quarter revenue reached $16.8 billion, nearly 50% above the previous quarter, and that it was profitable on an adjusted basis, according to the Financial Times report published by The Irish Times.
Expansion spending and founder control
An IPO could provide substantial funding for Anthropic's expansion. The filing details long-term computing agreements worth at least $114.5 billion with Google, $110 billion with Amazon and $44.9 billion with Microsoft. It also lists about $161.2 billion in equipment leases with Broadcom. Anthropic said it plans commitments approaching $800 billion over the next decade.
The preparations come just weeks after Dario Amodei argued in an essay that development of the most advanced AI models should slow.
Going public will not change Anthropic's status as a public benefit corporation. Its planned five-class share structure will leave control with its founders and the Long-Term Benefit Trust, rather than buyers of Class A stock.
A company owned by the seven co-founders holds one Class F share with 50.1% of the voting power on ordinary shareholder matters. Separately, a Class T share gives the Long-Term Benefit Trust the right to elect most board members. In practice, Class A investors will not be able to determine the outcome of shareholder votes.
