Anthropic investors model $2 trillion IPO valuation, report says

Anthropic $2 trillion IPO expectations are being advanced by some of the AI company’s investors, who told the Financial Times that a potential October listing could value the company at $2 trillion or more. The reported figure is investor modelling, not a valuation target set by Anthropic management, and could exceed the valuation assigned to SpaceX at its June market debut.

The Financial Times spoke with six Anthropic investors, according to reporting relayed by Anadolu Agency and other outlets. Several investors said the company had not set an IPO valuation target. Seeking Alpha separately reported that CNBC’s sources said Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao had met investors but that valuation was not discussed.

Could Anthropic be valued at $2 trillion in an IPO?

It could, if investor expectations translate into an offering, but the supplied reporting does not establish an IPO date, price, deal size or formal valuation range. Anthropic reportedly filed SEC paperwork in June, putting it in a quiet period ahead of a possible listing. The company has not publicly confirmed the reported October timing or the $2 trillion figure in the material reviewed.

The investors’ case rests on a projected annualized revenue range of $100 billion to $120 billion by the end of 2026. Annualized revenue projects a full-year figure from recent performance; it is not the same measure as a company’s reported full-year sales. For subscription businesses, readers should also distinguish annualized revenue from annual recurring revenue, which depends on the company’s definition of recurring contracted revenue.

At a $2 trillion valuation, that projected range implies a valuation multiple of about 20 times revenue at the $100 billion end, or roughly 16.7 times at $120 billion. That is arithmetic applied to investors’ projections, not a forecast of pricing. Investors told the FT they were looking to companies including Palantir and Nebius for comparison because Anthropic has no directly comparable listed US AI lab, Anadolu Agency reported.

What does the SpaceX comparison show?

SpaceX is an imprecise benchmark unless the measurement is clear. Tech Funding News and Seeking Alpha reported that SpaceX was valued at $1.77 trillion in its June IPO, while Seeking Alpha said its market capitalization reached $2.1 trillion at the close of its first trading day. A $2 trillion Anthropic valuation would exceed the first figure, but not necessarily the latter.

Anthropic’s latest reported private valuation was $965 billion following a $65 billion May funding round, according to multiple reports. The jump from that level to $2 trillion would depend on public investors accepting the growth assumptions now being used by its backers.

What could challenge the valuation case?

The reports point to high AI operating costs, lower-cost Chinese open-weight models, policy pressure and growing public-market concern over the spending required to build AI businesses. Anadolu Agency also reported that the company faced a temporary Commerce Department restriction affecting leading models, while reports describe disputes with the Trump administration.

Those risks matter because the proposed valuation rests on rapid revenue expansion rather than a company-announced offering target. Investors’ $100 billion to $120 billion annualized-revenue expectation would represent more than tenfold growth during 2026, according to the reports. Whether that expectation holds, and whether a listing takes place on the reported timetable, remains unconfirmed by Anthropic in the available reporting.

This story draws on original reporting from TechFundingNews.