Hedge fund short bets pile up ahead of Anthropic IPO

Anthropic's planned stock market debut could help bring buyers back to technology shares after weeks of heavy selling, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Hedge funds have built up large bets against stocks, and if the IPO renews enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, those funds could be forced to buy back in. Not everyone is optimistic. "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer warned that a wave of very large share sales could drain cash from the broader market.finance.yahoo.com

A filing that lifted chip stocks

Anthropic publicly filed its Form S-1 with the SEC on Monday, Oct. 26. It plans to list its Class A shares on the Nasdaq ↗ 2.25% Global Select Market under the ticker "ANT," according to the company. The filing showed $16.3 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier, along with a net loss of $80.7 billion, Fortune reported. U.S. tech and chip stocks rallied after the filing came out, Yahoo Finance noted. On Tuesday, Asian markets followed, a rebound for AI and semiconductor shares that had been beaten down, per Fortune.anthropic.com+2

The filing does not yet give a share count or a price range. Media reports have pointed to a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion and a raise of up to $100 billion, NPR reported. Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ↗ 0.47% and Morgan Stanley ↗ 0.78% are leading the deal, Yahoo Finance said.finance.yahoo.com+1

Bearish bets could fuel a rebound

Goldman says its hedge fund clients have shorted about $5 of stock for every $1 they bought this month. Tech stocks went through their heaviest two weeks of net selling in more than a decade of Goldman records through Oct. 16, according to Bloomberg. The Nasdaq 100 has fallen 4.5% since Oct. 6, pressured by the war in Iran, rate worries and doubts about how AI spending will be financed. Deutsche Bank ↗ 1.34% says investors' tech holdings have dropped to a six-month low.finance.yahoo.com

"The Anthropic IPO will be a critical test for markets once we get past earnings," Joe Gilbert of Integrity Asset Management told Bloomberg. Barclays ↗ 1.39% cautioned that stock-picking funds now hold less than 1% of their assets in cash, which could limit how much new buying comes in.finance.yahoo.com

Cramer flags a supply problem

On his Oct. 26 show, Cramer said, "I think both the debt market and the equity market are running out of money," while adding, "I'm not calling the top," TheStreet reported. On the same day Anthropic filed, Meta ↘ 1.34% laid out plans to raise $95 billion by selling shares. Nvidia ↘ 1.26%, AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ↘ 7.52% and Broadcom ↘ 1.18% have signaled interest in buying part of that offering. U.S. IPOs have already raised more than $148 billion in 2026, more than in all of 2021, the report noted.thenewstribune.com

Bloomberg reported that marketing for the Anthropic offering could start as soon as the week of Nov. 9, according to a summary of coverage.michaelparekh.substack.com