Anthropic’s Mega-IPO Nears, Spurring US Listing Candidates to Rework Timetables

As artificial intelligence company Anthropic prepares one of the largest initial public offerings on record, companies pursuing US stock market listings are adjusting their timetables to get ahead of the scramble for investor attention.

Bloomberg reported on August 31 that Anthropic, the developer of Claude, is preparing to publicly file for an IPO within the next few weeks. Market participants say the company could raise an amount comparable to or greater than the $86.2 billion record set by SpaceX.

Anthropic’s looming listing is also increasing pressure on other IPO candidates. People familiar with the matter said some companies and shareholders are finding it harder to win support from long-term institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds as attention concentrates on Anthropic.

A similar pattern emerged ahead of SpaceX’s listing. In the month before SpaceX entered the market, 14 large companies rushed to complete their IPOs. Bloomberg data show their weighted average return after listing was negative 9.5%.

This time, the US midterm elections are further narrowing the windows available to IPO candidates. A Federal Reserve policy meeting is scheduled for mid-September, and hotter-than-expected inflation has become another variable in listing plans. Rob Stowe, head of Americas equity capital markets at Barclays, said IPO activity would likely cluster from September to October. With the Fed meeting and the early-November elections approaching, viable listing windows could be limited to just a few periods.

Many of the companies preparing to go public are tied to AI. Cloud computing company Nscale is among the firms waiting to list alongside Anthropic, while smart-ring maker Oura Health is pursuing an IPO as early as October that could raise billions of dollars.

Companies tied to rising power demand from AI data centers are also preparing listings. Aggreko, a temporary power supplier backed by private equity, and solar-and-battery storage company CoVolt Power publicly filed IPO documents in August and could reach the market before Anthropic.

SB Energy, a digital infrastructure company backed by SoftBank Group, could raise more than $5 billion in an IPO. Inspire Brands, the restaurant company owned by Roark Capital, may also try to list before the November midterm elections. Data center company Switch confidentially filed listing documents in August and could make its market debut as early as November.

Still, the benefits of the AI boom are not spreading to every IPO candidate. Eddie Molloy, Morgan Stanley’s co-head of global equity capital markets, said investor money is concentrating on major themes including AI infrastructure and aerospace and defense, making it harder for small- and mid-cap companies outside those sectors to attract interest.

The performance of US IPOs this year has also lagged the broader market. Bloomberg data show the weighted average return for newly listed US companies this year was 5.6%, trailing gains of 13% for the S&P 500 and 17% for the Nasdaq 100 over the same period. Large IPOs have also failed to stand out. Among the 16 companies that raised more than $1 billion this year, the weighted average stock gain was just 4.2%, and six of the 10 biggest IPOs are now trading below their offer prices.

SpaceX has risen less than 5% since its listing, while SK Hynix was up about 8% through August 28 despite volatile trading. Both companies have shown sharper share-price swings as sentiment around AI investment shifted.

A recent rebound in stocks is improving conditions for the IPO market at the margin. The S&P 500 has climbed 5.4% from its July low, while the Nasdaq 100 has gained more than 8% over the same period. Doug Adams, Citigroup’s co-head of global equity capital markets, said at least six companies could raise more than $1 billion each between after Labor Day and before the November midterm elections. That sets the stage for a cluster of large US listings in September and October around Anthropic’s blockbuster IPO.