TL;DR

Prospective investors in Anthropic’s stock market listing are doubting whether it can start marketing the shares next week and list in November, four people familiar with the discussions told Reuters in an exclusive published late on 5 November. Some regard the $1.5 trillion valuation recently discussed as the top of the range. They want a better price and the October revenue figure that Anthropic left blank in its updated filing.

What investors are asking for

Reuters had previously reported that the roadshow would begin in the week of 9 November, with pricing the following week. According to the people Reuters spoke to, a deeper discount may be needed to secure orders. Investors are conscious of its history of quarterly losses and its big commitments to partners in the AI build-out. They also want the October revenue number to judge whether growth has picked up after a recent slowdown. Anthropic declined to comment.

Earlier in the year, investors had expected an October listing at a valuation of up to $2 trillion. On Thursday evening the Wall Street Journal also said IPO investors were sceptical the company can reach $1.5 trillion.

The market backdrop

The doubts follow a two-day sell-off in AI-related shares after Tuesday’s US midterm elections, in which ballot measures restricting data centre development succeeded in many states. On Thursday, upwards of 50 tech names in the S&P 1500 lost 10% or more. Reuters notes a delay could itself unsettle the wider market, given how heavily it is weighted to large technology firms.

One detail in the same report concerns a company we follow closely. Citing Bloomberg News, Reuters says Microsoft has tightened oversight of some data centre projects from neocloud providers, Nscale among them. For background, see our 5 November report on Microsoft and Nscale.

Why it matters

We have covered the listing as it developed. In our view, a delay would matter to UK businesses mainly as a signal of how much confidence public investors place in the labs they buy from. Nothing in this report speaks to Anthropic’s product pricing or plans for customers.

Looking Forward

The people Reuters spoke to said Anthropic could hold off until AI markets look strong enough to absorb an offering some expect to raise $100 billion. Wall Street still expects the two sides to agree a valuation. The roadshow start date is the next marker.