Anthropic targets valuation of up to $2 trillion in IPO

Tesla jumps 5.21%; Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rises 2.82%

Big Tech earnings, Fed rate decision in focus this week

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. [123RF]
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. [123RF]

All three major US stock indexes rose Monday on news that AI company Anthropic is pursuing an initial public offering. Anthropic's disclosed financial structure rekindled investor enthusiasm for AI spending, drawing buying interest concentrated in technology stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 146.42 points, or 0.28 percent, at 52,361.58 on the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 rose 53.09 points, or 0.70 percent, to 7,676.77, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 214.04 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 26,169.38.

The session's rally was driven by news that Anthropic, the developer of the AI chatbot Claude, had filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, formally launching its IPO process.

Anthropic is reportedly targeting a valuation of up to $2 trillion and aims to raise $100 billion through the listing. If achieved, it would be the largest IPO in US stock market history.

Concerns had been spreading on Wall Street that Big Tech companies were pouring enormous sums into AI infrastructure without generating commensurate returns. The financial strain from expanding AI investment, combined with debate over stretched valuations, had weighed on sentiment toward technology stocks.

Anthropic's IPO filing shifted that mood, drawing investor attention to the company's financial structure and cash holdings. Gil Luria, head of technology research at DA Davidson, highlighted that Anthropic holds approximately $113 billion in cash and cash equivalents. He described the company as highly profitable and said the IPO was being pursued from a position of financial strength rather than necessity. Analysts at Raymond James also said Anthropic's disclosures supported a positive outlook for AI infrastructure investment.

Among individual stocks, Tesla surged 5.21 percent to its highest level in about three months, lifted by an upgrade from Barclays and renewed speculation about a potential merger with SpaceX.

Semiconductor stocks also advanced broadly. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.82 percent from the previous session. Micron gained 2.98 percent and AMD climbed 2.80 percent, while Nvidia and Broadcom added 2.39 percent and 2.33 percent, respectively. SK hynix's American depositary receipts rose 4.09 percent.

Meta, however, fell 1.88 percent after reports that it plans to raise up to $9.5 billion to fund its AI infrastructure spending.

EWZ, an ETF tracking Brazilian equities, tumbled 19.82 percent following the victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil's presidential runoff election.

Investors are keeping a close eye on major Big Tech earnings releases and the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision this week. A total of 163 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report third-quarter earnings, with particular attention on the AI investment plans and profitability outlooks of Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft. The Fed is set to decide on its benchmark interest rate Wednesday. Federal funds futures markets are currently pricing in roughly a 90 percent probability that the rate will be held steady at its current target range of 3.75 to 4.00 percent.


hajun825@heraldcorp.com