Anthropic to set IPO valuation range this week, WSJ reports

Anthropic is going ahead with its stock market listing and plans to set a valuation range this week, with shares due to begin trading on Thursday or Friday of next week, according to a Wall Street Journal report summarised by TechCrunch. The key detail: some institutional investors are now pushing for a valuation below the $1.5 trillion target discussed as recently as last week.

This is the next step after the amended prospectus covered in Unicorn API’s November 2 article, which followed the original public filing in late October. The filings covered the company’s finances and risks. The new report is about price and timing: what the market will pay for Anthropic, and when trading starts.

What changed since the amended filing

The new information comes from the Journal’s report. Anthropic has not commented in the sources available for this article. Three points stand out:

• The deal is going ahead. Anthropic is moving ahead with its listing plans despite a difficult market, according to the Journal.
• A price range is due this week. Anthropic plans to set a valuation range this week. In an IPO (initial public offering, a company’s first sale of shares to the public), the range is the band of share prices the company and its banks propose to investors. The final price is usually set within or near that band once orders come in.
• Trading could start late next week. The Journal reported a target of Thursday or Friday of next week for the first trades.

This timing is close to what was expected before the filings were public. A LinkedIn analysis by investor Ian Wyatt in mid-October said Anthropic was targeting a mid-November listing, with the roadshow expected to begin the week of November 9 and shares trading before Thanksgiving. A roadshow is the period when a company and its banks present the offering to large investors before pricing. The Journal’s reported schedule fits that window.

The valuation numbers investors are weighing

The target valuation has fallen in recent months. According to the Journal’s report, the $1.5 trillion target discussed last week was already well below the $2 trillion floated a few months ago, and some institutional investors now want a figure below $1.5 trillion.

Earlier reference points help explain the range:

Reference point	Figure	Source basis
Anthropic’s last private round (May)	$965 billion	LinkedIn analysis
Same round, as described by IBD in May	Nearly $1 trillion	Investor’s Business Daily
Valuation range pegged by investors who had seen the deal (October)	$1.5 trillion to $2 trillion	LinkedIn analysis
Figure floated a few months ago	$2 trillion	WSJ via TechCrunch
Target discussed last week	$1.5 trillion	WSJ via TechCrunch
OpenAI’s reported valuation, last week	$1.25 trillion	TechCrunch

The two descriptions of the May round agree: $965 billion is “nearly $1 trillion.” In October, the LinkedIn analysis said the $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion range was roughly double the May private valuation. Even the lower end of the current talks would be a large step up from Anthropic’s last private price.

OpenAI, Anthropic’s main rival, was reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion last week after raising $11 billion in new capital. It had initially sought $20 billion. A $1.5 trillion listing would value Anthropic above that figure. If investors succeed in pushing the number down, the gap would shrink. TechCrunch notes that investors will use Anthropic’s valuation to gauge the strength of the AI boom.

Timeline and the banks on the deal

The reported sequence:

1. May: a private funding round values Anthropic at about $965 billion.
2. Mid-October: the LinkedIn analysis reports a targeted mid-November listing and says Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are leading the deal.
3. Late October and November 2: Anthropic’s public filing and amended prospectus, covered in the earlier articles linked above.
4. This week: valuation range expected, per the Journal.
5. Thursday or Friday of next week: targeted start of trading, per the Journal.

The same October analysis said the offering was expected to rival or exceed what SpaceX raised in its June listing. That is a forecast from one commentator, not a confirmed deal size. The size of the share sale has not been reported in the sources for this article.

A shaky market backdrop: Nasdaq sell-off and the Nvidia scandal

TechCrunch says a major tech IPO looks risky right now. It points to one of Nasdaq’s biggest sell-offs and to revelations that a CEO central to the AI boom had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy. Related coverage identifies that CEO as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Investor’s Business Daily reports that Nvidia’s board has launched a probe into the case and that Nvidia shares have fallen. Unicorn API covered that story in Nvidia opens probe into CEO Jensen Huang’s ties to alleged Chinese spy.

The market picture is mixed. IBD reports a broad rally on Monday, with chip stocks rising and the Nasdaq up nearly 3%, while Nvidia shares fell on the scandal. IBD also carries headlines describing an “AI stock rout” that some on Wall Street call unwarranted, and a stiff weekly loss for the market before the rebound. Anthropic is setting its price range in a market that is moving sharply in both directions. That may explain why some institutional investors are asking for a lower valuation.

What investors will examine: revenue, accounting and losses

Anthropic’s growth is the main argument for a high valuation. The October LinkedIn analysis, citing Reuters, puts Anthropic’s revenue at $386 million in 2024 and about $4.6 billion in 2025. It says 2026 revenue was roughly $33 billion through nine months: $4.7 billion in the first quarter, $11.5 billion in the second and $16.8 billion in the third. The same post cites an ARK Invest chart showing Anthropic’s trailing revenue growth above 1,000%, against roughly 250% for OpenAI on the same screen.

The same sources also raise questions that bear on the valuation:

• How revenue is counted. In May, Investor’s Business Daily flagged questions about Anthropic’s revenue recognition, meaning how and when it books sales. The LinkedIn analysis explains the issue: Anthropic books sales made through cloud partners such as Amazon and Google at the full price the customer pays and counts the partner’s cut as a cost. That makes its revenue look larger next to OpenAI, which does not report the same way.
• Slowing growth. Quarterly revenue rose 140% from the first quarter to the second, then 45% from the second to the third, according to the same analysis.
• Losses and compute spending. The post says Anthropic lost about $8 billion at the operating level in 2025. It has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to computing power over the next several years, and its reported profitability this year is on an adjusted basis.

These points come from a commentator’s summary of reporting and data from other firms. They do not come from Anthropic’s audited statements. The October post itself said the audited numbers would appear in the public S-1 filing. The earlier Unicorn API articles in this thread cover what coverage of those filings reported.

What it means for builders using Claude

None of the sources link the listing to any change in Claude models, the API, rate limits or pricing. Builders should not read the IPO news as a product announcement. Still, the deal matters to people who build on Claude for two reasons.

Developers are central to the investment case. According to the LinkedIn analysis, most of Anthropic’s revenue comes from businesses rather than consumers. Enterprise and developer customers paying for Claude models and coding tools make up the bulk. The post describes this as the recurring kind of revenue that public investors value. In practice, a public Anthropic would be valued largely on how much developers and companies use its API and coding products.

Public companies face different pressures. Once listed, Anthropic will report results to public shareholders on a regular schedule. Growth, margins and compute costs will be watched quarter by quarter. The sources do not predict how that will affect product decisions, so this article does not speculate about pricing or model plans. The commitments to computing power show that capacity is a large cost. Teams that depend on Claude capacity have reason to follow these disclosures.

For teams choosing between model providers, the reported valuations of Anthropic and OpenAI measure investor expectations, not model quality or reliability. They are useful context, not a technical signal.

What to watch next

• The valuation range itself. Whether the range lands at, above or below the $1.5 trillion target will show whether the investors pushing for a lower price prevailed.
• Confirmation of the trading date. The Thursday-or-Friday target comes from the Journal’s reporting. An official pricing announcement would confirm it.
• Deal size. Whether the offering matches the earlier expectation that it would rival or exceed SpaceX’s June raise.
• Market conditions. Further swings in AI and chip stocks, and developments in the Nvidia probe, could affect demand for the shares in the days before pricing.
• OpenAI’s next move. With OpenAI reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion and both companies long expected to go public, Anthropic’s debut will set a public price reference for the sector.

Unicorn API will update this thread when the valuation range is published and when Anthropic shares begin trading.