Jim Cramer Says Bears Want to Derail Anthropic’s IPO. Here’s Why It Matters
Jim Cramer says bears have a specific target in their crosshairs, and it runs deeper than one company's IPO. The S-1 gives both sides real ammunition, and the number that will settle the argument has not been disclosed yet.
Jim Cramer has named a target for the market’s skeptics. “I think that the goal of the bears out there is to derail the Anthropic IPO. That will be the straw…” he wrote on X on November 1. The next day, as headlines reported fresh Anthropic revenue figures, he followed up: “could have used some more details, Anthropic, but not hurt by what we heard”.
His interest reaches past one company. In October, Cramer said that “If there’s enough demand that Anthropic IPO is successful, that will give investors much more confidence that the AI data center theme has legs, although we’ll also suck a massive amount of money away from the rest of the group.” That expansion runs through the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind the racks, the group we profiled in a free report on seven AI infrastructure names that aren’t chipmakers. In a CNBC segment this week, he added that “if you’re a tech optimist, the good news is we’re approaching some potential turning points and the Anthropic IPO keeps marching along.”
Revenue Growth Gives Bulls Their Best Evidence
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI models, filed its S-1 registration statement on October 26. Revenue grew from $41 million in 2023 to $386 million in 2024 and $4,585 million in 2025. In the first half of 2026, it reached $16,286 million, up from $1,163 million a year earlier.
The customer count backs that up. As of September 30, 2026, Anthropic had more than 11,900 customers paying $100,000 or more over the trailing year, more than 1,900 paying $1 million or more, and approximately 250 paying $10 million or more. In the June 2026 quarter, the company reported operating income of $974 million, its only profitable quarter in the filing’s quarterly table, which begins with the March 2025 quarter.
An $80.7 Billion Loss Needs a Closer Look
Anthropic reported a first-half 2026 net loss of $80,748 million. Of that, $72.4 billion came from changes in the fair value of convertible notes and similar instruments, which the filing ties mainly to the rise in the company’s valuation. Anthropic raised money through notes that convert into stock. As the company became worth more, those obligations grew more valuable on paper, and accounting rules record that increase as a loss. The operating loss, which tracks the core business, was $693 million for the half-year, compared with $8,060 million for all of 2025.
Compute Contracts Give Bears Their Strongest Case
The risk factors show where the skeptics have real grounds. Anthropic has signed long-term computing deals with take-or-pay provisions, which require payment whether or not the capacity gets used. Some of these commitments run between 2031 and 2045, and the filing still leaves the dollar totals blank. The company also admits it has significantly underestimated its compute needs in the past. Sales through cloud provider marketplaces made up 48% of first-half 2026 revenue, so a handful of distribution partners handle much of its business. Recent coverage has focused on slowing revenue growth and rising compute financing risks.
Public Buyers Would Hold a Minority of the Votes
Anthropic is a public benefit corporation, and its stated purpose is “the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity”. Its directors must weigh shareholder returns against that mission and other stakeholders, and the filing warns this may conflict with financial interests.
Control sits in two places. The Long-Term Benefit Trust holds Class T stock, which elects a majority of the board. A Founder LLC owned by the seven co-founders will hold one Class F share carrying 50.1% of shareholder voting power. Class A holders, the public’s share class, are limited to 49.9%. For retirees, that means owning part of the profits while having little practical say over the board or a sale of the company.
What to Watch Before the Deal Prices
On the business itself, the filing supports Cramer. Revenue is growing quickly, the core operating loss has narrowed sharply, and most of the headline loss comes from accounting for the company’s rising value. Bears have stronger ground on the fixed computing bills and on a governance setup that limits outside shareholders. Venture investors reportedly exhaled after reading the S-1, while other analysts argue the IPO math and history work against it.
The offering price is still blank. Before the deal prices, watch for an amended S-1 that fills in the total compute commitments, third-quarter results, and whether June’s operating profit continued. Those numbers will show whether Cramer’s confidence holds up.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
