Anthropic’s IPO draws heavy demand — and could still fetch USD 1.5 tn valuation

Anthropic’s tn-USD moment is almost here. The Claude maker’s shares are expected to start trading on Nasdaq on or around 19 November at a price that would value the whole company at up to USD 1.4 tn — a bit less than some investors had hoped, Reuters reports. It’s only selling a small slice of itself, but that could still bring in as much as USD 64.4 bn, CNBC says. Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, and other tech giants are buying an extra USD 26 bn of its shares.

Investors have put in orders for six times more stock than is for sale, Bloomberg reports, and bankers are now mulling whether to price the shares above the range, which could value Anthropic at USD 1.5 tn or more, the Financial Times adds. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are expected to price the offering on 18 November.

The timing is tricky: Investors will be watching how Anthropic’s shares sell to judge whether Wall Street is still bullish on AI. They’re a little jumpy right now. AI stocks have only partly bounced back from last week’s post-midterm selloff, as we noted on Tuesday.

SPEAKING OF WHICH- That selloff is already hitting Gulf wallets. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala may be down about USD 17.5 bn on its AI wagers since the end of June, while Saudi Arabia’s PIF is down about USD 5.64 bn, according to estimates by consultancy GlobalSWF first reported by Semafor.

Investors aren’t about to pull out of AI completely. If anything, lower prices could let long-term investors like these pick up more of some AI stocks. We’ve long argued that any air being let out of the AI bubble might be seen by Gulf sovereign funds as a chance to up their stakes in companies they see building a transformative technology.

Why this matters for the Gulf: Abu Dhabi’s state fund MGX and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) already own pieces of Anthropic, so the company’s performance next week will affect Gulf public money. UAE investors are also leading OpenAI’s next funding round, which is why investors are watching Anthropic’s IPO for clues about how OpenAI might fare.

OpenAI’s numbers are a mixed bag. In 3Q 2026, it made USD 10 bn in sales in a single quarter for the first time ever, nearly 50% more than the quarter before, Bloomberg reports. But it also lost USD 10.9 bn over the same three months, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Take that with a grain of salt: OpenAI and Anthropic don’t use the same rules about how to count revenue. Anthropic includes the full value of the sales it makes through Amazon, Google, and Microsoft’s clouds, then books its partners’ cuts as an expense. OpenAI’s top line includes only what it keeps after Microsoft gets its cut.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 0.2% on Thursday on turnover of SAR 4.1 bn. The index is down 1.6% YTD.

In the green: Saudi Industrial Development (+7.6%), Al-Omran Industrial Trading (+6.9%), and Saudi Azm for Communication and Information Technology (+5.9%).

In the red: Raoom Trading (-8.4%), Saudi Fisheries (-6.9%), and Kingdom Holding (-6.4%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.5% on Thursday on turnover of SAR 21.9 mn. The index is down 5.3% YTD.

In the green: Munawla Cargo (+13.2%), Sama Healthy Water Factory (+12.4%), and Dkhoun National Trading (+9.9%).

In the red: Twareat Medical Care (-10.0%), Sahat Almajd Trading (-6.8%), and View United Real Estate Development (-6.4%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1- United Cooperative Assurance will miss the deadline to publish its 9M results, as a 29 September court ruling to open liquidation proceedings — which the company is appealing — could change how its accounts are prepared, the company said in a Tadawul filing. Talks with its auditors on review requirements are also unfinished. The company expects to publish the results by 31 January 2027, depending on the outcome of the appeal and completion of the review. Its shares have been suspended since 13 September.

#2- Tihama Advertising will also miss the regulatory deadline for its preliminary financial results for the six months ended 30 September, as the review remains incomplete following delays in appointing an external auditor and a subsequent change in auditor, the company said in a Tadawul filing. Tihama’s shares were suspended on 12 November, and the company aims to publish the results within 20 trading sessions of the suspension.

#3- United Carton Industries’ board approved SAR 70 mn in interim dividends for 9M 2026, or SAR 1.75 per share, equivalent to 17.5% of nominal value, according to a Tadawul disclosure. Shareholders registered at the close of trading on 19 November are eligible, with payment due on 2 December.