Jim Cramer stays wary of Anthropic’s IPO over pricing, growth and safety

Anthropic’s rapid growth has not persuaded CNBC’s Jim Cramer to recommend buying its shares when trading begins. On November 12, he identified three unresolved questions: whether lower prices will undermine revenue, what will drive growth beyond its coding product, and whether its commitment to AI safety will help or hinder the business.

His hesitation is not a final recommendation against the deal: Cramer said he was still evaluating it and its risks. Anthropic intends to price its initial public offering on November 18, 2026, and begin trading on November 19, according to CNBC.

Anthropic filed an amended registration statement on November 10. CNBC reported that the proposed offering would raise $64.35 billion at the top of its price range and imply a fully diluted valuation of up to $1.405 trillion.

Lower prices need staying power

Anthropic has recently cut prices for several Claude models. Cramer raised concerns that customers may be watching costs more closely or considering cheaper alternatives. Lower prices could encourage greater usage, while extra charges for faster processing could offset some of the reductions.

Cramer said October revenue growth remained strong despite the cuts, which encouraged him. He wants to see whether that momentum continues over the coming months.

A growth engine beyond coding

Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding agent, has driven much of its growth and gained traction with enterprise customers, CNBC reported. Cramer questioned whether that product alone can sustain enough expansion to cover roughly $900 billion in future computing commitments.

Anthropic has introduced Claude Cowork, industry-specific tools and products designed to compete with Microsoft Office. Cramer also named cybersecurity, life sciences and robotics as possible major growth opportunities—not established sources of future revenue.

Safety could cut both ways

Anthropic has built its reputation around responsible AI development, and CEO Dario Amodei has warned about increasingly powerful models’ dangers. Cramer asked whether that commitment could constrain revenue if it leads Anthropic to slow the release of advanced systems.

He also laid out the opposite possibility: a safety-first approach could become a competitive advantage as businesses grow more cautious about adopting autonomous AI systems. Cramer left both possibilities open.