Anthropic investors are expecting the AI company to launch its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in October with a staggering valuation of $2 trillion or more. This would significantly surpass SpaceX's $1.77 trillion valuation from June, making Anthropic's debut the largest IPO in history. The company, known for its Claude chatbot, has tapped Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead the offering, with JPMorgan Chase also involved.
Anthropic's backers believe the lofty valuation is justified by booming demand for the company's advanced AI models and tools. They anticipate Anthropic's annualized revenue to reach between $100 billion and $120 billion by the end of 2026, which would represent more than a tenfold increase from its reported $47 billion annualized revenue in May. The company's last capital raise in May valued it at $965 billion.
Some investors are even more optimistic, suggesting that a company growing at 800% annually could command a 30-times-revenue multiple, implying a potential $3 trillion valuation for Anthropic. For comparison, AI-adjacent companies like Palantir and Nebius have traded at around 55 times their sales this year. While senior Anthropic executives have not yet fixed a specific valuation target, investors have developed their own financial models based on these projections.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are in a fierce competition for the coveted "lead left" position in the Anthropic IPO, a role that grants significant influence over share allocation and can lead to substantial financial rewards through "soft dollars." The banks are also battling for lead roles in OpenAI's upcoming IPO. Anthropic filed confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June, entering a quiet period that limits public financial announcements.
