Anthropic IPO Pricing Impresses Dan Ives: 'A Deal of This Size Gets One Shot at Its Debut'

The highly anticipated Anthropic IPO, with shares set to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol “ANT,” could create optimism for the entire technology sector. Yorkville Ives analyst Dan Ives laid out what the offering could mean.

Dan Ives on Anthropic IPO

Coming in as the largest AI IPO on record, Anthropic is set to offer 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each, according to its latest filing, for proceeds of up to $64.35 billion. At the top of the range, the deal would value the company at about $1 trillion, with the option to move toward $1.2 trillion if demand allows, Ives said.

Given the volatility and nervousness across the tech trade over the past week, Ives said pricing at roughly $1 trillion is the right move. The analyst said the Anthropic IPO is likely "a positive step for the tech sector."

"A deal of this size gets one shot at its debut, and making it digestible for the market matters more than the last turn of valuation," Ives said in a new investor note.

Ives also highlights that alongside the IPO, there is a separate $26 billion private placement with the following seven cornerstone investors:

• Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
• Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
• Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD)
• Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO)
• Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)
• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM)

The analyst said this anchor book may matter more than the headline size, because it puts the companies that sell Anthropic its chips, host its models and distribute its products on its shareholder register before the first public trade.

"We expect strong institutional demand on the strength of the growth and the quality of the anchor roster," Ives wrote.

Anthropic Financials

The latest Anthropic filing shows the company had third-quarter revenue of nearly $17 billion, up from $1.4 billion a year earlier.

The operating loss in the third quarter was $567 million, compared with an operating profit of $974 million in the second quarter.

Anthropic has around $895 billion in commitments, with most for compute. Around $70 billion of commitments are due in the year through September 2027.

One item to watch: price cuts on newer models and contractual discounts reduced revenue growth in the third quarter by around $600 million.

Photo: 1 Andrew Thomas 1 / Shutterstock