Want to Invest in Anthropic Before Its IPO? Here's How.

Anthropic submitted its confidential filing for an initial public offering (IPO) on June 1, and it could finally release its S-1 -- the official document that details its audited financials -- in just a few weeks.

If you're hoping to find a way to get portfolio exposure to the AI giant ahead of its IPO, you're in luck -- just don't get too excited. You can gain exposure to Anthropic today through the KraneShares Public-Private AI & Technology ETF (NASDAQ: AGIX), but you're only getting a tiny piece.

AGIX holds $12.9 million of Anthropic, about 1.19% of its portfolio

As of Sept. 3, AGIX held 17,829 Anthropic shares valued at $12.9 million. That was just 1.19% of the fund's assets, so if you put $1,000 into the exchange-traded fund, only $11.90 would be tied directly to Anthropic. Most of your money would go into dozens of other AI stocks. The top five positions in its portfolio by weight are:

• Meta Platforms: 4.6%
• Nvidia: 3.8%
• Alphabet: 3.7%
• Microsoft: 3.5%
• Amazon: 2.9%

The fund carries a 1% annual expense ratio. Also, until Anthropic goes public, KraneShares is only making an estimate about what those Anthropic shares are worth.

There are some other exchange-traded funds that offer Anthropic exposure, but the same basic issue applies: They have fairly tiny amounts of Anthropic stock tucked inside more diversified portfolios. You could conceivably get direct exposure by purchasing shares on private-share secondary markets, but I would avoid them. Those platforms often involve high fees, and the SEC warns that unregistered pre-IPO share sales are sometimes scams.

For most investors, the sensible route would be simply to wait for the IPO.

Anthropic's Q2 revenue topped $11.5 billion, but costs are still unclear

How to gain access to the shares is an interesting question, but whether Anthropic will make a good long-term investment is a much more important one.

The pace of the company's reported growth is hard to overstate. Bloomberg reports that its second-quarter revenue was above $11.5 billion, up from $4.73 billion in the first quarter and just $787 million a year earlier.

But the costs required to produce that growth are just as important -- and they are much harder to assess before we see a public filing. Anthropic reportedly generated positive adjusted operating income in the quarter, but that assertion is based on figures from preliminary, unaudited financials, and "adjusted" can mean a lot of things.

Image source: Getty Images.

Anthropic's incredible top-line growth shows that customers clearly see value in its products, and it's certainly possible that it can walk a financial tightrope and come out ahead. But don't mistake rapid growth for a healthy business. It's also possible that Anthropic will never be able to manage its costs effectively and deliver a satisfactory return in the long run.

Wait for the IPO or buy a small stake now?

So, if you want to buy into Anthropic, you have a few less-than-satisfactory options today, and a better option when the company makes its public debut. But ask yourself if you believe in the company's long-term prospects, or if you just don't want to miss out.

I, for one, will be watching Anthropic IPO from the sidelines -- and OpenAI's, too, when it comes.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.