Anthropic IPO update (ANT)!
Anthropic is going public despite nervous markets. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company wants to set its IPO price range later this week. Trading in the shares is expected to begin next Thursday or Friday.
The market has just seen one of the biggest Nasdaq sell-offs in recent times, and sentiment around the tech sector remains mostly negative.
But the valuation will be the main focus. Just last week, a target of $1.5 trillion was being discussed. Even that was well below the $2 trillion speculated about a few months ago. Some institutional investors are now reportedly pushing for an even lower figure.
Things look similar for its main rival. OpenAI raised $11 billion last week at a $1.25 trillion valuation. But that is only about half of the $20 billion it originally wanted to raise. Investors are still willing to put money into AI, just not at any price. And that's what matters now. Valuations are still stretched, returns are a long way off, and investors are more cautious.
The final price and the first few days of trading will indicate whether investors still believe in high growth expectations or will act more cautiously after last week's correction.
But it's not just about investors who might want to buy Anthropic shares in the IPO, which will trade under the ticker ANT (I won't be buying them; I'll be watching for shorting opportunities instead). The IPO's success could also affect the valuations of $AMZN and $GOOG, which are among Anthropic's major shareholders, as well as other companies tied to the AI boom, such as $NVDA.
