Investors Push Back on Anthropic's $1.5 Trillion IPO Valuation as AI Stocks Sell Off

Potential investors in Anthropic's initial public offering are pushing for a lower valuation and doubt the company can start its roadshow as planned in the week of November 9, four people familiar with investor discussions told Reuters on November 5, 2026. Some of them see the recently discussed $1.5 trillion valuation as the high end of expectations, the people said.

The pushback follows the sharpest technology stock selloff in a year, which came after ballot measures limiting data center development passed in several states in the US midterm elections on November 3, Reuters reports. The Wall Street Journal reported the same evening that major investors are skeptical the listing can reach $1.5 trillion. Anthropic, which filed to list on the Nasdaq as ANT on October 26, is among the most closely watched AI listings and funding deals of the year.

What are investors asking Anthropic for?

Investors want a more attractive valuation before they commit to Anthropic's IPO, and some think the company may need to offer a bigger discount, the people told Reuters on November 5, 2026. They point to Anthropic's record of quarterly losses and to the large commitments it has made to partners in the AI buildout, which mean it needs to raise capital.

Lower figures are circulating. Bloomberg reported on November 6 that IPO investors weigh a valuation as low as $1.2 trillion, and in a second segment that buyers see it as low as $1.1 trillion. Bloomberg also reported that estimates sank from the $2 trillion discussed in early October to $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion (Bloomberg via TechCrunch). One investor floated a valuation of just $1 trillion, according to The Decoder, which does not name the investor.

Anthropic declined to comment on investor doubts, Reuters reports. None of these figures come from the company: its filings still leave the price range and share count blank.

Why is the October revenue figure so important?

Investors are waiting for Anthropic's October revenue figure to judge whether growth picked up after a slowdown in recent months, two of the people told Reuters. The amended S-1 filed on November 2 left the run-rate revenue as of October 31, 2026 blank.

That amendment showed third quarter revenue of $16.96 billion, up about 47% from the second quarter after much faster growth earlier in the year, and an operating loss of $567 million after one profitable quarter. The Wall Street Journal's report carries the subhead that other investors say the October results could lessen the blow of the market rout.

Spending data points the other way for now. Token spend tracked by the corporate card company Ramp grew only 1.5% across August and September, against 42% month over month in July, before rising 8.9% between September 23 and October 23, according to TechCrunch. Ramp's lead economist Ara Kharazian told TechCrunch that price cuts by OpenAI and Anthropic have made AI cheaper to use, which caps revenue even as usage rises.

How far has the expected valuation fallen?

The valuations now reported for Anthropic's IPO, $1.1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, are well below the up to $2 trillion discussed in October 2026, but all of them remain above the $965 billion of the company's last private round. Anthropic raised $65 billion at that post-money valuation on May 28, 2026.

By this site's arithmetic, the low end of $1.1 trillion is about 14% above the May price and the $1.5 trillion figure is about 55% above it. The reported range also brackets the $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation at which OpenAI was closing in on a private round of up to $30 billion, according to CNBC on October 22, a price that was itself down from $1.4 trillion discussed earlier in October.

A private round and a public listing are priced differently: a private round is negotiated with a small group of backers, while IPO pricing depends on orders from many institutions during the roadshow.

Could Anthropic delay the listing?

Anthropic could postpone the offering if AI related stocks stay under pressure, waiting until the market can smoothly absorb a very large offering, the people familiar with investor discussions told Reuters. Wall Street still expects Anthropic and its investors to agree on a valuation, Reuters adds.

The market backdrop is weak. Technology stocks underperformed the S&P 500 by 10.7% over the past month, the most extreme one-month gap since May 2002, Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services, told Reuters. Shares of the AI cloud providers Nebius, IREN and CoreWeave have each lost half their market value over the past month, the agency reports. Reuters also notes that some analysts expect strong demand from retail investors to support the offering.

What we don't know yet

• Whether the roadshow starts in the week of November 9 and when pricing would follow.
• The price range and share count, which Anthropic's filings still leave blank.
• Anthropic's October revenue figure and whether it shows growth picking up again.
• Whether Anthropic will accept a valuation closer to $1.1 trillion or wait for markets to recover.