As Anthropic’s blockbuster initial public offering gets set to take center stage on Wall Street, CNBC’s Jim Cramer argued Thursday that several questions remain about the artificial intelligence startup’s long-term prospects.
The Claude developer plans to price its shares Nov. 18 and begin trading the following day. In its updated IPO paperwork filed Tuesday, the company outlined plans to offer 825 million shares at $70 to $78 apiece. At the high end, the offering would raise $64.35 billion and value Anthropic at up to $1.405 trillion on a fully diluted basis.
Despite Anthropic’s explosive growth and improving profitability, Cramer called out three uncertainties affecting his evaluation of the investment case:
- How will Anthropic’s price cuts affect revenue? Anthropic has recently reduced prices for several Claude models, raising concerns that customers are becoming more cost-conscious or turning to cheaper alternatives. Lower prices could encourage greater usage, while additional charges for faster processing could help offset the cuts. Cramer said he was encouraged that revenue growth remained strong in October despite the reductions, but he wants to see whether that momentum continues in the coming months.
- Where will Anthropic’s next $100 billion in revenue come from? Much of Anthropic’s extraordinary growth has been driven by Claude Code, its AI coding agent, which has gained traction among enterprise customers. But Cramer questioned whether that product alone can sustain the growth needed to cover the company’s roughly $900 billion in future computing commitments. Anthropic has introduced Claude Cowork, industry-specific tools and products designed to compete with Microsoft Office. He said cybersecurity, life sciences and robotics could also become major growth opportunities.
- Will Anthropic’s focus on AI safety help or hurt growth? Anthropic has built its reputation around a pledge to develop AI responsibly, with CEO Dario Amodei warning about the potential dangers of increasingly powerful models. Cramer questioned whether that commitment could eventually constrain revenue growth if the company slows the release of advanced models. On the other hand, he said its safety-first approach could prove a competitive advantage as businesses become more cautious about adopting autonomous AI systems.
For now, Cramer remains hesitant to recommend buying Anthropic shares when they begin trading, but said he is still evaluating the deal and its potential risks before making a final call. “For now, I’ll just tell you that I’m wary of doing so,” he said.
