Anthropic’s $1.5 Trillion IPO Valuation Is Facing Pushback. The November Listing Could Be Delayed.

Anthropic's much-awaited stock market debut is running into trouble even before investors have had a chance to buy shares. The company had been preparing for a November listing that could value it at around $1.5 trillion, but some potential investors are now questioning whether it is worth that much.

The doubts have grown following a sharp sell-off in technology stocks, especially after the midterms, with investors also raising questions about Anthropic's huge spending commitments and how quickly its revenue is growing.

Four people familiar with investor discussions told Reuters that the company could struggle to begin its planned investor roadshow next week. Some want Anthropic to lower its valuation before they commit to buying shares.

The roadshow was expected to begin during the week of Nov. 9, with shares potentially priced the following week. Anthropic has not announced a postponement and declined to comment on the investor concerns.

The company had earlier been associated with an IPO valuation as high as $2 trillion. That figure has since come down to around $1.5 trillion, but even the lower amount is proving difficult to sell to some of the investors expected to participate in the offering.

Three prospective investors told The Wall Street Journal that the price might need to fall further. One suggested a valuation closer to $1 trillion, while another raised the possibility of the company selling fewer shares and raising about $80 billion instead of the $100 billion previously discussed. Neither the valuation nor the amount Anthropic intends to raise has been finalized.

There is another number investors are waiting for: October revenue. Anthropic left the figure blank in its latest amended registration filing, and investors want to know whether growth has recovered after slowing in recent months, two people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

The company's Nov. 2 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows how rapidly the business has grown, but also how expensive it has become to compete at the forefront of artificial intelligence.

Anthropic generated $33.2 billion in revenue during the first nine months of 2026, up 1,206% from the corresponding period last year. Third-quarter revenue reached approximately $17 billion.

Yet the Claude chatbot developer continues to lose money. It reported a net loss of $23.3 billion for the third quarter and $104 billion for the first nine months of the year. Most of the nine-month net loss was tied to accounting adjustments involving the value of financial instruments, rather than ordinary operating expenses.

The company also disclosed approximately $895.4 billion in commitments related largely to computing and infrastructure, including agreements extending well into the next decade. Nearly $70 billion of that amount is due within 12 months of September 30.

Those commitments do not represent money Anthropic has already spent. They cover future contractual obligations, including computing services and infrastructure needed to train and run its AI models.

The distinction matters because Anthropic's rapid expansion depends on securing enormous amounts of computing capacity, even as investors question how quickly AI companies can turn that spending into sustainable profits.

The market has become considerably less forgiving of such spending in recent weeks. Thursday's sell-off sent the Nasdaq down more than 5%, with semiconductor companies and AI infrastructure providers among the hardest hit. More than 50 technology stocks in the S&P 1500 fell at least 10%, while companies including CoreWeave, Nebius and IREN suffered particularly heavy losses.

All three have been closely associated with the rapid construction of computing infrastructure for AI. Their share prices have fallen sharply over the past month as investors reassess the enormous borrowing and investment required to build data centers.

The political climate is adding to the nervousness. Democrats' sweeping victory in Tuesday's midterm elections has raised questions about possible new restrictions on AI infrastructure, while voters in several states backed local measures limiting data center development.

Anthropic's updated IPO filing does not yet specify the number of shares it plans to sell or an expected offering-price range. Both will be important in determining how much the company can raise and whether investors are prepared to support its proposed valuation.

The company has said it intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ANT. But with its roadshow previously expected to start next week, the price investors are prepared to pay is still being debated.