Jim Cramer says Anthropic’s IPO could determine whether AI stocks recover

A recovery in AI stocks may depend on investors backing one company’s stock-market debut, CNBC’s Jim Cramer argued on November 9. He cast Anthropic’s expected initial public offering as a test of the spending behind AI chips and data centers—not just a verdict on the company developing Claude.

The Mad Money host’s warning rests on a financial connection: suppliers can sell computing capacity and hardware, but a handful of AI developers ultimately need to earn enough to support that spending. Cramer argued that a disappointing Anthropic offering could undermine confidence in the companies supplying it, as well as in Anthropic itself.

The customer behind the chip purchases

Cramer pointed to SpaceX, which rents computing power to customers such as Google and Anthropic. Google pays about $900 million a month, CNBC reported. Anthropic’s monthly commitment has grown from an initial $1.25 billion to more than $3 billion, according to its IPO prospectus.

Those customer contracts support SpaceX’s purchases of Nvidia chips. In Cramer’s scenario, a failed Anthropic offering would leave it without the cash to fulfill its contracts. Investors would then have to lower their financial estimates for SpaceX, Nvidia, other computing providers and their suppliers.

There is also an ownership connection. Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia hold stakes in Anthropic, exposing their earnings to changes in its valuation, CNBC reported.

A price range that did not stick

The offering is approaching a less receptive market. CNBC reported that Anthropic’s potential valuation had fallen from as much as $2 trillion earlier in the fall to as low as $1 trillion after a technology-stock sell-off.

Later on November 9, Reuters reported that Anthropic had withdrawn pricing details sent to bankers, according to BeInCrypto’s account. Emails Reuters reviewed showed about 867 million shares at $70 to $80 each. Anthropic subsequently told bankers the pricing information was inaccurate and said an updated filing would follow.

At those withdrawn terms, the sale would have raised roughly $60.7 billion to $69.3 billion. BeInCrypto reported that the company’s pre-IPO perpetual futures contract on the derivatives exchange Hyperliquid fell nearly 7% after the reported withdrawal.

A timetable, not a completed offering

An SEC filing record shows Anthropic submitted an amended stock-offering registration statement, known as an S-1/A, on November 2.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthropic planned to meet major investors during the week of November 9 and was targeting a trading debut as early as November 19 or 20, according to CNBC. The Journal cited people familiar with the matter; the dates remain a reported target.