Anthropic: Die Antworten auf die zehn wichtigsten Fragen zum Mega-IPO

Anthropic, the developer of the AI chatbot Claude, has released additional financial details about its planned stock market debut. The company's prospectus was updated on Tuesday, providing answers to the ten most important questions surrounding the IPO.

1. When is the IPO scheduled? The updated prospectus marks the beginning of Anthropic's "roadshow," where management will pitch the stock to institutional investors. Institutional investors will submit subscription offers specifying the number of shares and price expectations. This process, known as bookbuilding, will conclude with the company, along with its banks, setting the final pricing.

The price determination is expected to occur next Wednesday, November 18th, with trading set to begin the following Thursday, November 19th. This would place Anthropic's IPO before the highly significant Thanksgiving holiday in the United States on November 26th.

2. How large will the IPO be? The IPO will be smaller than SpaceX's IPO in June, which was valued at nearly $1.8 trillion and raised $75 billion. Anthropic is aiming for a valuation of up to $1.405 trillion, significantly less than the $2 trillion figure CEO Dario Amodei had previously announced. However, this valuation still surpasses the $965 billion mark set by a financing round in May.

When considering only the shares of Anthropic that will be available for trading after the IPO, the company could reach a valuation of nearly $1 trillion. Including untraded shares reserved for employees and other packages, Anthropic's valuation could rise to $1.4 trillion.

3. How does Anthropic's business operate? The company's prospectus reveals impressive growth, but also high losses. In the first nine months of this year, Anthropic generated $33.2 billion in revenue, up from $2.5 billion in the same period last year, a growth rate of 1,200 percent. However, this growth was not accompanied by profitability.

In the first nine months of 2026, Anthropic recorded an operating loss of $1.26 billion, down from $5.2 billion the previous year. In the second quarter, Anthropic became profitable for the first time, but then fell back into a loss-making phase in the third quarter due to its spending on short-term computing power. This increase in cost was necessary as demand exceeded the long-term capacity booked.

The net loss in the first nine months of the year was significantly higher than the operating loss, amounting to $104 billion. This loss primarily resulted from a booking effect, as convertible debt from previous financing rounds had to be revalued due to the increase in company value without generating any profit.

4. What are Anthropic's plans for the proceeds? The funds raised will primarily be used for growth, albeit not entirely. Like other AI developers, Anthropic needs to invest large sums in infrastructure and operation. Experts believe that a portion of the proceeds will be used to finance existing commitments made through the IPO.

Martin Geißler from the consultancy Argon & Co sees the IPO primarily as a means to finance already committed contracts for computing power: "In essence, it's about keeping the US hyperscaler's AI bet alive." However, a banker who did not want to be named believes that "everyone knows that Anthropic needs to continue investing to stay competitive in the AI race." For many investors, it is currently unproblematic that Anthropic continues to operate at a loss.

5. What is Anthropic's valuation? With an annualized revenue of $65 billion, Anthropic is being valued at nearly 22 times its revenue. This is significantly lower than SpaceX's valuation of around 100 times its revenue during its IPO. While SpaceX dominated its core areas like satellite internet and space travel with a near-monopoly, it remains unclear whether Anthropic can achieve comparable margins, even if it becomes a "Microsoft of the AI era."