Anthropic's IPO Application Sparks Rally in Chip Stocks; $2 Trillion Valuation Draws Divergent Views

Anthropic's application to go public boosted NVIDIA and other chip stocks. The company reported $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of the year, but its net loss reached $80.7 billion. Wall Street investors disagree about whether the company is worth $2 trillion and whether its profit margin of 10% is strong enough. Fewer retail investors are trading stocks, adding to market worries.

According to Woofun AI, Anthropic's application to sell shares to the public for the first time, known as an initial public offering (IPO), improved feelings about the technology sector. On Monday, NVIDIA (NVDA.US) shares rose 2.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8%. Broadcom (AVGO.US) and Micron Technology (MU.US) also saw their shares rise.

Some investors had expected Anthropic to be worth only $1.5 trillion because its revenue growth was slowing. However, the company's plan to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol "ANT" has sparked strong debate about whether its value could reach $2 trillion after the IPO.

Data collected by Woofun AI shows that Anthropic earned as much as $16.3 billion in revenue during the first half of the year. That is more than three times its forecast full-year revenue of $4.6 billion for 2025. However, by June, its net loss had reached $80.7 billion. Of that amount, $72.4 billion came from non-cash expenses linked to convertible bonds. These expenses do not involve an immediate cash payment. Jill Luria, head of technology research at DA Davidson, believes the company's losses are still manageable, even after including the cost of paying employees with stock. She also believes Amazon (AMZN.US), Alphabet (GOOGL.US), and Broadcom will benefit. Raj Joshi, a senior vice president at Moody's, said that improving operating profit margins are a positive sign for the industry.

However, Paul Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital, remains cautious about Anthropic's adjusted operating profit margin of about 10%. In the first half of the year, the company reported adjusted operating profit of $1.62 billion on revenue of $16.286 billion. Nigel Green, CEO of the financial advice firm deVere Group, warned that if spending keeps growing faster than revenue, public shareholders could face risks from cloud-service contracts that require the company to spend at least a certain amount.

A CNBC panel pointed out that the "ANT" stock listing could give retail investors another way to invest in AI beyond buying chip stocks. Nearly 12,000 institutional clients now spend at least $100,000 a year, compared with fewer than 1,000 a year ago. However, data from Goldman Sachs shows that retail investors' share of trading in the U.S. stock market has fallen from 15% last year to 9% today.

The Federal Reserve is due to announce its decision on October 28, U.S. Eastern Time, which will be early on October 29 in Beijing. Google, Microsoft (MSFT.US), and Amazon will also release their earnings reports one after another. Investors will focus on how broader economic trends and the results of major technology companies affect each other. According to The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic plans to raise up to $100 billion, with a possible company value between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion. Trading could begin as early as November 16. The price set for the IPO will provide a direct test of how enthusiastic Wall Street really is about AI companies. Meanwhile, OpenAI is seeking short-term financing before its IPO at a pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion, meaning the company's value before the new investment. It aims to raise up to $30 billion and could launch its IPO in the first half of 2027. What happens next could provide another important way to judge whether the AI market is in a bubble and, if so, how large it may be.