Better IPO to Buy: Anthropic vs. SpaceX

2026 will mark the year of two blockbuster IPOs: Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) and Anthropic. SpaceX set the record for the largest IPO at about a $1.75 trillion valuation. Anthropic's price hasn't been determined yet, but it's anticipated to reach up to $2 trillion, depending on investor interest. These two have shifted the landscape of the public markets due to their sheer size.

Investors now have access to Anthropic's S1, and it has a lot of interesting information. Meanwhile, SpaceX has now reported two quarterly results, so investors are getting a better idea of what that company looks like. Which is the better buy now: SpaceX, or Anthropic on IPO day? Let's take a look.

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SpaceX and Anthropic are competitors

At first glance, SpaceX and Anthropic don't seem to be competing in the same arena. SpaceX launches payloads into space and lands the rockets back on Earth, and also has an impressive satellite internet business, Starlink. Anthropic is an AI lab that trains and deploys AI models that clients can deploy and use for various tasks. Those don't seem like the same industries at all, but SpaceX made a key acquisition right before going public: xAI. xAI owns two entities: X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), and its AI business, which trains and operates the Grok AI model.

Anthropic's Claude and xAI's Grok are direct competitors. SpaceX and Anthropic are locked in a battle over which can develop the best AI model, so it can be deployed in a wide variety of applications and thus generate more revenue. Both of them have delivered amazing growth results over the past few months, and it's hard to pick a winner.

Anthropic's first six months of the year have been simply incredible, with revenue rising 1,305% year over year to $16.3 billion. Not to be outdone, SpaceX's Super Intelligence (SI, its AI division) saw its revenue rise 830% year over year during the third quarter to $7.56 billion. Comparing these two head-to-head is difficult. Anthropic's numbers indicate the first 12 months of the year, and we have no information on the first-quarter versus second-quarter split. SpaceX's are Q3 figures, but just one quarter of growth.

Even if Anthropic's revenue were split evenly between Q1 and Q2 (it's not), it would still be larger than xAI. Furthermore, when Q3's growth figures are finally revealed, they will likely indicate that Anthropic's revenue is more than doubling quarter over quarter, so I wouldn't be surprised to see its revenue figure be three to four times higher than SpaceX's.

Anthropic has a far larger revenue stream, and if you follow the AI model market at all, this likely isn't surprising. But revenue isn't everything.

Anthropic's losses appear huge

Anthropic has posted some gigantic losses during the same time frame, over $80 billion. However, most of these losses came from issuing shares that were then made far more valuable. Instead, I think focusing on operating income is a far smarter metric. During the first six months, Anthropic lost $693 million from operations. That's really not a large figure compared to how much revenue it's generating. In contrast, SpaceX's operating income was $431 million during Q3.

So, neither of these two is really in a bad spot, and major profits could be coming soon as they scale. But which is the better buy?

As of right now, I think Anthropic may be the better buy. It's hard to argue about how successful its Claude model has been versus SpaceX's Grok. I think this will drive the stock to new heights, and with how much value is being unlocked through AI, Anthropic could be a generational investment opportunity.

Keithen Drury 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.