Anthropic's IPO Is Just 1 Week Away. Should You Buy the Stock?
The business is impressive. The value is still a question mark.
Anthropic is poised to go public in a massive IPO next week, and investors are eager to know if the stock is a wise purchase. The company's revenue has exploded, growing 1,368% year over year in the second quarter and reaching $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026 alone. Third-quarter revenue hit $17.0 billion, more than the entire first half of the year combined.
Existing business customers are spending significantly more than a year ago, with over 1,900 spending at least $1 million annually. Anthropic's computing costs have dropped to $0.55 per dollar of revenue, and its adjusted operating margin reached 15% in the third quarter. The company has a substantial cash reserve of $131.8 billion and can issue additional shares to its Public Benefit Fund as the stock price rises.
However, the top five customers account for about a quarter of its revenue, and the co-founders control 50.1% of voting power. Anthropic plans to sell 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each, with a $26 billion private placement. After the IPO, around 13.1 billion shares will be outstanding, giving the company a market cap of $916 billion to $1.02 trillion.
The company's valuation is in line with its private funding round but below what investors hoped for. Analysts suggest waiting for the final IPO pricing, monitoring the stock's performance, and starting with a small position. Alternatively, investors can gain exposure to Anthropic through Alphabet and Amazon, which are also investors in the company.
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