"Shadow Stocks" Surge 90%! How to Get Ahead of Anthropic's Historic IPO? Here's the Ultimate Guide
Zoom Video Communications ZM | 0.00 | |
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR SKM | 0.00 | |
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN | 0.00 | |
Microsoft Corporation MSFT | 0.00 | |
NVIDIA Corporation NVDA | 0.00 |
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Two AI giants, Anthropic and OpenAI, are set for epic IPOs on the U.S. stock market, with Anthropic potentially debuting as early as late September, aiming for a valuation of up to $2 trillion.
Anthropic's IPO is expected to surpass SpaceX's record for the largest IPO in global history set two months ago. How can U.S. stock investors position themselves ahead of this massive wealth-creation event? This article explains.
How to Invest in Anthropic Before the IPO? 6 U.S. Stocks + 5 ETFs to Watch
As the world's leading AI model company by usage and performance, Anthropic's Claude model primarily targets enterprise clients and has already surpassed its competitor OpenAI on key metrics. Interestingly, Anthropic's founders are former OpenAI employees.
Anthropic's valuation growth has been astonishing. Following its $65 billion Series H funding round in late May, the company achieved a post-money valuation of $965 billion, surpassing OpenAI's private valuation of $852 billion at the time. This is a dramatic leap from its $183 billion valuation at the end of 2025—a nearly tenfold increase in just one year.
While direct investment in Anthropic's shares isn't possible before its IPO, investors can capitalize on its valuation growth through "shadow stocks"—companies with pre-IPO stakes in Anthropic:
| Stock | Investment Rationale | YTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom Video Communications(ZM.US) | Holds ~1% pre-IPO stake; significant upside relative to size | 24.5% |
| SK Telecom Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR(SKM.US) | Holds ~0.3% pre-IPO stake; strong upside relative to size | 90.9% |
| Amazon.com, Inc.(AMZN.US) | Holds ~9% pre-IPO stake; moderate impact from collaboration | 15.2% |
| Microsoft Corporation(MSFT.US) | Holds ~7% pre-IPO stake; moderate impact from collaboration | 0.5% |
| NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US) | Holds ~5% pre-IPO stake; moderate impact from collaboration | 16.8% |
| Salesforce.com, inc.(CRM.US) | Holds ~0.5% pre-IPO stake; moderate impact from collaboration | -21.9% |
In addition to these stocks, certain ETFs also provide indirect exposure:
- Private Equity ETFs: Tema Photonics & Optical ETF(LAZR.US), KraneShares Public-Private AI & Technology ETF(AGIX.US), Destiny Tech100 Inc(DXYZ.US), Fundrise Innovation Fund, LLC(VCX.US) (hold private equity in Anthropic)
- Related ETFs: Anthropic AI Lab Ecosystem ETF(ANTW.US) (invests in public companies with business relationships with Anthropic)
Source: Bloomberg, Sahm. For reference only; not investment advice.
Revenue Soars 7x! Can Anthropic Justify a $2 Trillion IPO Valuation?
On June 1, Anthropic confidentially filed its IPO paperwork with the SEC, entering the pre-IPO quiet period. At the time, Wall Street's consensus pegged its valuation at around $1 trillion, in line with its $965 billion private valuation in May. However, in just two months, investor sentiment has doubled, pushing the expected valuation to $2 trillion.
The driving force behind this surge is Anthropic's latest financial performance, disclosed earlier this week. In Q2, the company reported actual revenue of $11.5 billion, a staggering 14x year-over-year growth. More importantly, for the first time, Anthropic achieved positive adjusted operating profit of $559 million, making it the first major AI model company to turn a quarterly operating profit.
- Revenue Composition: 75%-85% of revenue comes from enterprise API calls, with the Claude Code programming tool driving growth.
- Market Position: Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI in both U.S. enterprise client spending and enterprise LLM market share.
- Profitability: Improved inference margins led to positive Q2 operating profit.
Based on recent performance, investors project Anthropic's annualized revenue to reach $100 billion to $120 billion by the end of 2026, representing a 10x growth within the year. Applying the average price-to-sales ratio of 17-20x to U.S. tech companies, the estimated valuation ranges from $1.7 trillion to $2.4 trillion.
Despite the promising projections, questions remain about whether Anthropic can maintain its lofty valuation. According to Craft Ventures analysts, this hinges on several critical factors: achieving an ARR (annual recurring revenue) of over $100 billion by year-end, doubling growth rates through 2027, maintaining high margins, and preserving strong relationships with key enterprise clients.
What are your thoughts on Anthropic's upcoming IPO?
How will you position yourself for the largest IPO in history?
Join the discussion in the comments!