Stocks are seeing modest gains in early trading, while crude oil is giving back some ground along with gold and silver. The dollar is higher, while Treasuries are flat. Bitcoin continues to trade in a rangebound fashion around $80,000.
Anthropic has officially filed for its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The Claude model developer is hoping to tap into AI enthusiasm among investors, even as it appears to be waning somewhat. The stock will trade under the ticker symbol “ANT” on the Nasdaq. The exact timing of its deal is uncertain, but the company plans to start its IPO roadshow to pitch itself to big investors in a couple weeks. Anthropic is looking to raise as much as $100 billion at a company valuation of up to $2 trillion.
XLP (Green), XLE (Blue), XLK (Red) – October % Change
Source: TradingView
The S-1 filing revealed a whopping 1,300% year-over-year surge in revenue in the six months ended June 30, as well as a decline in operating losses. Anthropic's net loss was an eye-popping $80.7 billion, but that stemmed largely from a sizable accounting adjustment.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) just launched its largest voluntary buyout program in company history. The tech giant is giving roughly 60,000 employees the opportunity to accept an offer and leave. That represents about one-fourth of its workforce. The move comes amid a massive AI spending wave.
Other tech companies like Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), and Netflix Inc. (NFLX) have also shed workers in 2026. Investors, for their part, have been shedding tech stocks in favor of stocks in other sectors lately. The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) is up 7.5% in October, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) is up 12.5%. The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) slid 5.2% in the same stretch.
