Of the five largest US companies, only one is issuing shares; the others are shrinking their floats. Photograph: Timothy Clary/AFP via Getty ImagesA $350 billion Anthropic stock market flotation would seem, at first glance, like the sort of thing that happens only at the frothiest market peaks. However, if you look at the signal that mattered most back then – equity issuance – today looks nothing like 1999. Of the five largest US companies, says Lamont, only one is issuing shares; the others are shrinking their floats. None of this rules out speculative pockets in AI, nor does it predict that an Anthropic IPO would be sensibly priced.

Source: The Irish Times December 08, 2025 22:51 UTC