Author: Li Hailun, Tencent Technology

Editor: Xu Qingyang, Tencent Technology

As the IPO approaches, Anthropic has become increasingly active recently.

On November 9, local time in the United States, Anthropic simultaneously launched two new models: Claude Fable 5.2 and Claude Mythos 5.2. Just one day later, on November 10, the company announced the official commencement of its initial public offering (IPO) roadshow, planning to issue 825 million shares at a price of $70 to $78 per share, aiming to list on NASDAQ under the stock code ANT.

Based on the post-issuance share capital, Anthropic's highest valuation is approximately $1.02 trillion. Multiple foreign media reported that if options, restricted stock, and other potential shares are included,the fully diluted valuation could reach $1.4 trillion.

This IPO has another more eye-catching point: Seven technology companies, including Google, NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft, will contribute $26 billion through private placement. Among them, Google and NVIDIA each committed to invest $10 billion.

If both the public offering and strategic placements are completed as planned, Anthropic's fundraising scale is expected to exceed $90 billion.

However, not all sentiment in the capital markets is optimistic.

On one hand, Claude's business is experiencing rapid growth, with Anthropic's revenue reaching $33.2 billion in the first three quarters; on the other hand, the company has signed approximately $900.9 billion in long-term procurement and leasing commitments, most of which are related to computing infrastructure.

This AI star company is using an IPO to answer a question: How high can the valuation of a rapidly growing AI business support?

01 IPO Valuation Finally Established

The most notable aspect of Anthropic's IPO is that the issue price and valuation have finally been clearly answered.

According to the latest issuance documents, the company plans to issue 825 million Class A common shares, with a pricing range of $70 to $78 per share. Among them, about 801.35 million shares are issued by the company, and another 23.65 million shares come from existing shareholders selling.

At the highest issue price of $78, the public offering fundraising scale would amount to approximately $64.4 billion. The underwriters also have an additional purchase option for 123.75 million shares.

Regarding valuation, it is necessary to distinguish between two standards.

Based on approximately 13.087 billion shares issued after the completion of the IPO and private placement, Anthropic's corresponding valuation is approximately $916 billion to $1.02 trillion. If potential shares such as options and restricted stock are further taken into account, the highest valuation could reach approximately $1.4 trillion.

Thus, the $1 trillion and $1.4 trillion figures in the market are not two different issuance programs, but rather reflect different calculations of equity.

Even according to the fully diluted standard, $1.4 trillion is still below the previously discussed market expectations of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion valuation.

In May of this year, Anthropic completed a funding round of $65 billion, achieving a post-investment valuation of $965 billion. In just a few months, the company began to push into the public market, with its valuation transitioning from the previous private market pricing to a more rigorous public market examination.

Yahoo Finance estimates based on SEC rules that if the fastest process is adopted, Anthropic could start trading as early as the week of November 16.As a reference, SpaceX took 23 days from publicly submitting IPO documents to officially listing this year. If Anthropic follows a similar pace, its stock could start trading on November 18. However, the exact listing date remains to be officially confirmed.

For Anthropic, going public is not only a large-scale financing but also a test from the public market after the AI capital frenzy gradually enters a rational pricing phase.

02 Seven Tech Giants Join Forces to Bet

Another important highlight of Anthropic's IPO is the collective entry of tech giants.

According to the issuance documents, Anthropic plans to issue Class N common shares to seven technology and semiconductor companies through private placement after the IPO is completed, raising a total of $26 billion.

Among them, Google and NVIDIA each committed to invest $10 billion, and AMD invested $2.5 billion. Broadcom, Micron, and Microsoft each invested $1 billion, while TSMC invested $500 million.

The seven companies span the cloud computing, AI chip, semiconductor manufacturing, and storage industry chains, almost covering the core infrastructure needed for Anthropic's development.

If both the public offering and private placement are successfully completed, Anthropic's total financing will reach approximately $90.4 billion. Including the over-allotment, the scale could be further expanded.

This money means more than just increasing cash reserves.

Google and Amazon are not only important investors in Anthropic but also its cloud computing and computational power providers. NVIDIA and AMD are core participants in the AI chip industry chain. Microsoft also has business collaborations with Anthropic in cloud computing and AI markets.

These companies are both partners of Anthropic and competitors in the AI market.

The intertwining of investment and procurement relationships means that Anthropic's growth is already deeply tied to the entire AI infrastructure industry chain.

However, this arrangement requires investors to further evaluate: Are strategic investments a recognition of Anthropic's business prospects, or are large tech companies making industrial chain layouts to secure AI computational power demand?

03 Computing Bills Approach Trillion Dollars

The core supporting Anthropic's trillion-dollar valuation remains the rapid expansion of Claude's business.

The latest issuance documents show that as of the three quarters ending September 30, 2026, Anthropic achieved a revenue of $33.24 billion, a year-on-year increase of approximately 12 times. Among them, the revenue in the third quarter reached $16.96 billion, a quarter-on-quarter growth of 47%. As of the end of September, the company's revenue over the past 12 months was approximately $35 billion.

The number of enterprise customers is also rapidly increasing. As of the end of September, more than 11,900 customers contributed at least $100,000 in revenue over the past 12 months, among which over 1,900 customers contributed more than $1 million, and approximately 250 customers contributed over $10 million.

This indicates that Claude is no longer just a chat tool for individual users, but is gradually establishing scaled revenue in enterprise software, development tools, and business workflows.

However, the other side of revenue growth is the rapid inflation of computing costs.

In the third quarter, Anthropic's computing and infrastructure costs reached approximately $9.9 billion. As the demand for model training and inference continues to grow, the company needs to constantly procure more computing resources. During the same period, the gross profit margin for the computing business fell from 52% in the second quarter to 42%, and the adjusted operating profit margin also dropped from 19% to 15%.

Revenue is increasing, but profit margins are being squeezed by computing costs.

The greater pressure comes from long-term contracts.

As of the updated prospectus on November 10, as of September 30, 2026, the total value of the procurement commitments and leasing agreements signed by Anthropic is approximately $900.9 billion, most of which are related to computing and infrastructure.

Of this amount, approximately $451.6 billion is expected to occur before the end of 2030, with the remainder predominantly distributed between 2031 and 2045. According to the statistical standards in the prospectus, approximately $70.7 billion will mature within 12 months after September 30, 2026.

It should be clarified that the $900.9 billion is not the current debt formed by Anthropic, nor is it an amount required for immediate payment, but rather the total of long-term procurement and leasing arrangements that have been signed. Some of these commitments still carry termination rights or performance conditions.

Anthropic has approximately $95.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, along with $36.3 billion in short-term investments, providing a considerable reserve of funds. However, faced with long-term infrastructure investments, the company still relies on continuously increasing revenue and financing capability to sustain expansion.

04 Three Questions Behind the Trillion Valuation

Anthropic's IPO will actually become an important opportunity for the public market to test the AI business model.

The first is whether growth can be sustained. Revenue in the first three quarters grew year-on-year by about 12 times, which is enough to prove that Claude is rapidly opening up the market. However, the revenue growth rate in the third quarter was 47%, lower than the 144% in the second quarter. As the revenue base continues to expand, the difficulty of maintaining an extremely high growth rate in the future will also increase.

The second is whether computing investments can be converted into profits. The approximately $900.9 billion in long-term procurement and leasing commitments means that Anthropic must continuously expand commercial revenue to support a massive infrastructure system. The decline in gross profit margin for the computing business in the third quarter also indicates that revenue growth will not automatically translate into higher profits.

Lastly, governance and shareholder rights. Anthropic has adopted a multi-class share structure. The issuance documents indicate that the F-class special shares held by founder-related entities will have 50.1% of the total voting rights after the transaction is completed. The long-term benefit trust also has significant influence over the composition of the board of directors and the appointment and removal of directors.

This means that public market investors can share the economic benefits arising from the company's growth, but they may not necessarily have control rights that match their shareholding ratio.

For a company centered on AI safety, the governance structure after going public will also become a continuous concern for investors.

Looking back at Anthropic's IPO, the most noteworthy aspect is not whether it can become another trillion-dollar company but whether it can prove that the commercialization of AI has entered a stage capable of sustainably generating profits.

Previously, the market was willing to pay a high premium for model capabilities, user growth, and future imagination. Now, as Anthropic puts hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, nearly a trillion dollars in long-term computing commitments, and public market valuation on the table, investors finally have the opportunity for a more complete pricing of this business model.

The capital frenzy in the AI industry is entering the next stage.

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