Anthropic IPO: What it Means for Wall Street

Anthropic IPO Looms

Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees Daniela and Dario Amodei, Anthropic has already become a household name. Although it is private, Anthropic is arguably the most important company on the planet currently. Beyond its scorching-hot growth, Anthropic is a critical gauge for the general market. AI-spending currently accounts for the lion’s share of GDP growth in the United States, and Anthropic is one of the biggest spenders.

When Will Anthropic IPO?

Outside of the historic SpaceX (SPCX) initial public offering, Anthropic will be the most anticipated IPO of 2026 and the biggest AI pure play ever to go public. On June 1^st, Anthropic filed its Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). An S-1 is the initial registration document a prospective IPO must file with the SEC, and it includes the prospectus, risk factors, an explanation of business operations, financial statements, and a description of how the company will use its IPO proceeds.

While there is no exact IPO date, the earliest Anthropic could go public is October. According to the Polymarket betting market, there’s currently an 83% chance Anthropic goes public by the end of October and a 93% chance it goes public by the end of 2026.

How are OpenAI and Anthropic Different?

ChatGPT OpenAI and Anthropic are currently the two leading artificial intelligence labs. However, they differ dramatically in terms of product focus. OpenAI generates most of its revenue through the mass-market consumer with ChatGPT. Conversely, Anthropic specializes in the enterprise market and advanced software coding through its Claude models.

Anthropic: The Fastest Growing Company in History

Although OpenAI has been around longer, Anthropic has a private valuation of ~$965 billion, while OpenAI has a valuation of ~$852 billion. Anthropic’s high-paying and sticky enterprise customer base has supercharged its growth. In fact, with an annualized revenue run rate (ARR) of approximately $65 billion, Anthropic has become the fastest-growing technology company in history.

Which Public Companies Will Benefit from the Anthropic IPO?

Several publicly traded companies hold significant Anthropic stakes, including Zoom Video (ZM), Salesforce (CRM), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), and SK Telecom (SKM). Amazon leads the pack with an Anthropic stake valued at ~$43 billion. However, Amazon’s Anthropic stake is only about 2% of its market cap. Meanwhile, SK Telecom stands to benefit most from a successful Anthropic IPO, as its $2.7 billion Anthropic stake is ~20% of its market cap.

Bottom Line

As Anthropic prepares to make its public market debut, its launch represents far more than just liquidity for early investors; it serves as a crucial barometer for the AI industry. By dominating the high-margin enterprise sector, Anthropic has become the leading AI lab.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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