Why Anthropic Cares More About Cash Than Its $1.5 Trillion Price Tag

Anthropic’s bankers are reportedly weighing a share price above the $70 to $78 range set on Tuesday. That could lift the Claude developer’s valuation to $1.5 trillion or more.

The shift would come less than a day after a corrected filing cut the top from $80. A higher price would also push total funds raised past $100 billion.

Strong Orders Turn a Cut Into a Climb

Five people familiar with the deal told the Financial Times (FT) that strong roadshow demand is driving the plan. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lead the deal.

Tuesday’s range implied a fully diluted valuation of $1.26 trillion to $1.41 trillion. At that range, Anthropic planned to raise up to $64 billion.

A greenshoe option could add almost $10 billion if the deal is oversubscribed. Google, Nvidia and Microsoft will also invest $26 billion combined at the IPO price.

Together, those amounts come to roughly $100 billion, so any price increase lifts the total above it.

A higher price also fits Anthropic’s priorities. Three backers told the FT it now wants to raise as much as possible, rather than maximize its valuation.

That cash would support about $900 billion in planned spending on computing power and infrastructure. To ease doubts about that bill, Anthropic cited $81 billion in annualized revenue for October.

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Why So Much Rides on Anthropic’s Listing

The listing itself comes at a fragile moment for tech. Days earlier, the US midterm elections dragged tech stocks into a $3 trillion rout.

Markets have rebounded, but Jim Cramer has said a real recovery in AI stocks hinges on the Anthropic IPO.

New York Angels’ Bob Peck also argued the IPO could lift tech stocks after recent AI selloffs. Google, Nvidia and Microsoft have money riding on the outcome through their placement. 

However, Arthur Hayes sees a cost elsewhere. He has warned that AI IPO dilution could drain dollar liquidity behind crypto’s rally.

Morningstar puts Anthropic’s fair equity value at $1.7 trillion. Yet its scenarios, which hinge on how fast companies adopt Anthropic’s tools, run from $500 billion to just over $3 trillion.

The final price, expected before next week’s debut, will show where investors land within that range. 

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