Institutional investors planning to buy shares in Anthropic’s IPO have told the company and its advisers to seek a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion, below figures closer to $2 trillion discussed in recent months, The Wall Street Journal reported on 2 November, according to FourWeekMBA. The discussions concern Anthropic’s planned public offering later in November and follow a sell-off in technology stocks.
Key points
- Prospective institutional buyers favour a $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion IPO valuation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- Anthropic’s amended SEC filing puts third-quarter revenue at $16,956 million, FourWeekMBA reported.
- Google has an option to buy up to $10.0 billion of shares at the IPO price under a provision in the filing.
Anthropic buyers press below $2 trillion
The Wall Street Journal linked the lower valuation push to the technology stock rout in the final week of October, citing people familiar with the matter. Their proposed range concerns the price at which they would participate in the IPO. The figures closer to $2 trillion had been discussed in recent months.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.5% on 30 October and finished the month down 6.65%, Stocktwits reported. The index’s October decline was its steepest monthly fall since March 2025, according to Stocktwits.
Before the latest account of the institutional discussions, This Is Money reported on 30 October that Anthropic would go public within weeks in a $1.5 trillion flotation. It also reported that as much as 20 per cent of the shares would be set aside for private investors. Those buyers are a separate group from the institutional investors now pressing Anthropic on valuation.
Anthropic’s preparations have already brought banks into the offering. AI Affairs reported that Mizuho and MUFG joined its IPO syndicate alongside US banks. A syndicate appointment concerns the banks handling the share sale; the range reported from prospective buyers concerns what those buyers are prepared to pay.
Anthropic’s $16,956 million quarter
Anthropic reported third-quarter revenue of $16,956 million in an amended Form S-1 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 2 November, FourWeekMBA reported. The filing put revenue at $11,555 million in the second quarter and $1,382 million a year earlier. The revenue figures give prospective buyers a measure of the business against the valuation under discussion.
On FourWeekMBA’s calculation, the $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion range is 22 to 24 times third-quarter revenue annualised. It calculated about 29.5 times at $2 trillion. The publication put Anthropic’s May private round at roughly 21 times the revenue run rate the company stated at that time.
The amended filing follows an earlier stage of Anthropic’s IPO process. AI Affairs reported that its draft prospectus included an $80.7 billion loss. The third-quarter revenue in the amended filing and the valuation proposed by institutional buyers are different measures: one records sales for a completed quarter, while the other concerns the price of shares in the planned offering.
Google’s $10.0 billion IPO option
The amended filing also describes an option for Google to purchase up to $10.0 billion of Anthropic’s Class N common stock in a private placement alongside the IPO, at the offering price. Exercising the option would reduce by a corresponding amount the notes available under a Google funding arrangement. Class N shares carry no votes, according to the filing.
The amended filing lists $20.0 billion still available under that arrangement.
