Anthropic plans to complete its IPO in mid-November, with a $1.5 trillion valuation facing a liquidity test

The once-bustling autumn tech IPO calendar has been nearly emptied, with only Anthropic left to hold the fort. As the AI infrastructure sector faces interest rate shocks, valuation pressure, and peers delaying or withdrawing offerings one after another, this AI lab is still pressing ahead with its listing as planned, confronting the current market's liquidity test with a potential valuation as high as $1.5 trillion.

According to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, Anthropic plans to publish its prospectus as early as late October and complete its IPO in mid-November, with a roadshow for institutional investors expected to begin in the week of November 9. The people also cautioned that the plans and timing could still change.

Meanwhile, several peer companies in the AI infrastructure and data center space have successively postponed their listings. Data center operator Switch, Nscale, SoftBank-owned SB Energy, as well as Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT and Nvidia-backed Firmus, are reported to have delayed, suspended, or withdrawn their listing plans. The recent weak performance of Oura's IPO, with scant participation from long-term holding institutional investors, has further deepened market concerns about the depth of demand for new share offerings.

Peers retreat one after another, Anthropic presses on

The originally rich autumn tech IPO calendar has now been almost emptied. According to Reuters, data center operator Switch and AI infrastructure provider Nscale have both postponed their listing plans to later this year. People familiar with the matter said Nscale's delay partly stems from the need to respond to review comments from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff. SoftBank-owned SB Energy had also previously announced a postponement of its listing.

Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT and Nvidia-backed Firmus have gone further, having withdrawn or suspended their respective IPO plans. Since September, market volatility has intensified and interest rates have continued to rise, significantly increasing the difficulty for companies to secure ideal valuations.

Nscale publicly filed its IPO registration application in September, while Switch chose to submit its documents confidentially. Confidential filing allows a company to complete the review of its registration documents with regulators before disclosing financial and business details to the public.

Behind this wave of IPO retreats is the double blow of rising interest rates and doubts about returns on AI infrastructure investment.

Rising interest rates have driven sell-offs in AI operators' stocks and bonds, with CoreWeave's share price under notable pressure, providing a negative reference for pricing potential issuers. At the same time, doubts are mounting over whether tech companies' large-scale data center buildouts can deliver sufficient returns, and whether AI computing spending has run too far ahead of actual demand has become a core question for institutional investors evaluating any AI-related IPO.

Nevertheless, a large number of major investors remain optimistic about Anthropic's prospects, viewing it as a rare opportunity to gain exposure to core AI assets and believing that long-term investors "cannot ignore" this track.

Revenue surges, but book losses and committed spending are massive

According to a draft S-1 prospectus reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic's revenue in the first half of 2026 reached $16.3 billion, far exceeding $1.1 billion in the same period last year. But its net loss also ballooned from about $13 billion to $80.7 billion over the same period.

The draft prospectus shows that of the $80.7 billion loss, about $72 billion comes from accounting valuation changes in convertible notes and other financing instruments, rather than equivalent cash outflows. Yet even excluding this non-cash item, operating-level pressure remains significant: in the first half of 2026, the company's spending on computing power and infrastructure approached $9 billion, about four times the same period last year, and has already exceeded the roughly $7.3 billion in related spending for all of 2025.

In addition, Anthropic disclosed to potential investors that third-quarter revenue reached $16.8 billion, up about 45% from the second quarter, and that it achieved adjusted profitability and positive free cash flow. However, adjusted profitability differs from net profit under generally accepted accounting principles, and investors still need to pay attention to the specific calculation methods and subsequent cash flow performance.

The market expects Anthropic to formally and publicly file its S-1 investor prospectus in late October. Risk disclosure and disclaimer

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