SpaceX, Anthropic, or OpenAI: Which IPO Is the Better Buy?

We may see three trillion-dollar initial public offerings (IPOs) this year. SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) just debuted with a market cap of $2 trillion, while both OpenAI and Anthropic are planning to raise capital and go public later this year.

Investors, large and small, will have the opportunity to invest in these fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, including SpaceX, an AI and space-economy play. But which IPO will be the better buy?

Based on the price, the answer is clear from the financial data.

SpaceX's growth plans

At a $2 trillion valuation, SpaceX is now one of the largest companies in the world by market value. It does not have close to this level of revenue -- $18 billion in 2025 -- but has grand plans for massive revenue growth in the years ahead.

The company generated only a small amount of revenue from rocket launches, and the majority of its revenue last year came from its Starlink internet service. The segment had $11.4 billion in revenue and is growing 50% year over year with nice profitability.

Where SpaceX plans to get even more revenue is from its AI data center ambitions, both on Earth and in orbit. It has already signed deals with Anthropic and Alphabet worth $26 billion a year, but either company can cancel them at any time. The upside remains massive, with the potential to grow to $100 billion in revenue or more in the years ahead if SpaceX cracks the code with its Starship rocket, orbital data centers, and AI computing services.

Image source: Getty Images.

Anthropic's momentum

Anthropic is the tortoise that has currently overtaken the hare (OpenAI) in AI revenue. Founded just a few years ago, the company's focus on selling AI tools to enterprises has made it one of the fastest-growing start-ups in history.

This quarter, Anthropic is expected to generate $10.9 billion in revenue, or close to $45 billion annualized. If it keeps growing at this insatiable rate, it may hit $100 billion in annualized revenue in the near future.

Plus, unlike SpaceX, which posted an operating loss of $2.6 billion last year, Anthropic is reportedly already profitable. This positions the business to continue scaling its AI enterprise services worldwide. It will be fascinating to see how long it can keep up this exponential revenue growth, and it looks likely to be the fastest time from founding to $100 billion in revenue in history.

OpenAI's massive user base

The last of the three massive AI start-ups is OpenAI, the one that kicked off the AI age with the release of ChatGPT.

OpenAI has the lead in consumer AI services and is making inroads into the enterprise market by competing more directly with Anthropic. Last reports had its revenue hit an annualized rate of $25 billion, but that was a few months ago. It should also be noted that both Anthropic and OpenAI's revenue has not yet been audited by public accountants, so it is not clear whether they currently recognize revenue in the same manner.

Either way, OpenAI is currently lagging behind in the revenue race and has reportedly missed its 2026 targets so far. Plus, it has a reported operating margin of negative 122%, making it extremely unprofitable. Anthropic tries to thread the needle toward profitability while also growing exponentially.

These factors make it clear which stock is the better buy. SpaceX is a different beast, where investors are betting on Musk's vision. If you are a believer, by all means, buy SpaceX stock over OpenAI and Anthropic. But if you look at the size of businesses today and the reported profit figures, Anthropic is the best bet to buy at the IPO if they all debut at valuations similar to SpaceX's.

Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.