Anthropic Presses Ahead With Its IPO at a Lower Valuation, Reports Say
Photo: Hippopx (public domain). Illustrative image.
What happened. Anthropic is pressing ahead with its initial public offering despite this week’s sharp sell-off in technology stocks, accepting a lower valuation to get the listing done. The Claude developer wants to go public before Thanksgiving and raise $80–100 billion at a valuation of $1.25–1.75 trillion, according to investors cited by the Financial Times, in reporting relayed by The Decoder on 7 November 2026. That range tops the company’s current $965 billion valuation but falls short of the $2 trillion the most optimistic investors had hoped for. Annualised reported revenue now sits at about $81 billion, up from roughly $65 billion at the end of July, according to the same reporting.
The valuation slide. The numbers have fallen fast. Anthropic was reported to have entered October targeting a $2 trillion valuation, and investors put the number around $1.5 trillion in the middle of the month, Axios reported. After AI stocks fell on Thursday — the Nasdaq 100 dropped 6.4% — valuation discussions dropped as low as $1 trillion, according to the Wall Street Journal, while Bloomberg cited investors putting the figure between $1.1 trillion and $1.3 trillion. CNBC reported that Anthropic is expected to start its IPO roadshow next week, with one investor telling the network that $1 trillion to $1.25 trillion is a more likely target, though that could change with market conditions. The figures are all reported, not official: Anthropic has issued no statement confirming the timetable, the valuation, the offering size or the share price, and a spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg. Its amended S-1 filing from 2 November still leaves the price range blank.
The roadshow. The Information reported on Friday that Anthropic will proceed with the roadshow next week, with the company still targeting a listing during the week of 16 November, ahead of Thanksgiving. JPMorgan is reported to be planning an investor presentation on 13 November. The backdrop is a market that has turned against big AI spending plans: rising borrowing costs and heavy data-centre budgets triggered the sell-off, and the Democrats’ midterm wins accelerated it, with promises to slow data-centre construction among the measures cited. OpenAI, Anthropic’s closest rival, has had the same experience — it cut its funding-round target from $30 billion to about $20 billion and closed only the first $11 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation on Friday.
The talent question. The listing preparations share the week with a high-profile departure. Cat Wu, who led product for Claude Code and Cowork at Anthropic, announced on 5 November that she is joining OpenAI to lead product management for its Core Products group, reporting to Thibault “Tibo” Sottiaux and working with Nick Turley on enterprise products and Ashley Alexander on consumer products. Wu joined Anthropic in August 2024 and became one of the two public faces of Claude Code alongside its creator, Boris Cherny; OpenAI confirmed the hire to Business Insider, and OpenAI president Greg Brockman posted a public welcome. Claude Code has become one of Anthropic’s most important commercial products — the company disclosed in February that its annualised revenue run rate had passed $2.5 billion — and Anthropic has not said publicly who now leads product for it. Wu’s move follows other recent departures from the Claude Code team in the run-up to the listing.
What to watch. Whether the roadshow starts next week as reported, and where the price range lands when the S-1 is finally filled in. A listing at the low end of the reported ranges would still be one of the largest IPOs ever, but it would also set a public market price on a company whose private valuation has been cut by roughly a third in a month — and that price will be read as a verdict on the whole AI trade, not just on Anthropic.
Sources
- The Decoder — “Anthropic pushes ahead with pre-Thanksgiving IPO despite tech selloff, accepts lower valuation” (7 November 2026): https://the-decoder.com/anthropic-pushes-ahead-with-pre-thanksgiving-ipo-despite-tech-selloff-accepts-lower-valuation/
- Daily AI Brief — “Anthropic set to start IPO roadshow next week as investors expect a lower valuation” (7 November 2026): https://dailyaibrief.com/news/anthropic-ipo-valuation-expectations-fall-to-1-trillion-HhtuQuCq
- Tech Insider — “Anthropic IPO Presses On as Bids Slip to $1.2T” (8 November 2026): https://tech-insider.org/anthropic-presses-ahead-ipo-ft-bloomberg-1-2-1-3-trillion-2026/
- State of AI — “Cat Wu, Who Led Product for Claude Code, Is Joining OpenAI” (5 November 2026): https://www.thestateofai.com/news/cat-wu-claude-code-openai-anthropic-ipo
