The mood surrounding Anthropic’s upcoming public debut has shifted from exuberant to cautious following a volatile week on Wall Street. While the artificial intelligence firm was previously eyeing a staggering two trillion dollar valuation for its initial public offering, insiders suggest those goals may have been overly optimistic. According to sources speaking with CNBC, even a revised figure of 1.5 trillion dollars is now viewed as a stretch by some stakeholders who are bracing for a cooler reception from the market.
This cooling sentiment arrives amid broader anxieties regarding the massive capital expenditures required to sustain AI growth and a significant downturn in tech stocks. The Nasdaq recently experienced its steepest decline in nearly two years, driven by fears that political shifts in Washington and a general public backlash against AI could stifle the expansion of critical data center infrastructure. This bearish trend began mounting throughout October, hitting chipmakers and cloud providers particularly hard just as Anthropic prepares to list under the ticker ANT.
As the company gears up for its official roadshow next week, analysts argue that pricing stability will be key to avoiding a disastrous launch. With private valuations sitting around 965 billion dollars as of May, some investors believe a more realistic target would fall between one and 1.25 trillion dollars depending on how volatility settles. Experts warn that banking partners must price the deal conservatively to ensure long term success rather than chasing peak hype during a period of instability.
