Anthropic and SpaceX prepare for massive 2026 IPOs

The 2026 IPO Landscape

The public markets are preparing for a historic shift in 2026 as two of the world's most valuable private companies plan to go public. Space Exploration Technologies, commonly known as SpaceX, and the AI lab Anthropic are both positioned for blockbuster debuts. These events are expected to redefine the scale of public offerings.

SpaceX has already set a record for the largest IPO valuation at about $1.75 trillion. While the final price for Anthropic has not been determined, analysts expect it to reach as high as $2 trillion. The final numbers for Anthropic will depend largely on the level of interest from the investor community when the time comes.

These two companies have already shifted the landscape of the public markets due to their sheer size and influence. Investors are beginning to look closer at the internal data of these firms to understand their growth trajectories. Anthropic has released its S1, while SpaceX has reported two quarterly results to provide a clearer picture of their operations.

From Space to Super Intelligence

At first glance, SpaceX and Anthropic appear to operate in entirely different sectors of the economy. SpaceX is primarily known for launching payloads into orbit and landing its rockets, while it also manages the Starlink satellite internet business. Anthropic, conversely, is an AI lab that focuses on training and deploying models for various client tasks.

However, the acquisition of xAI by SpaceX has blurred these industrial lines significantly. xAI owns the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and operates the Grok AI model. This move has placed SpaceX in a position where it is no longer just a transportation company, but a major player in the software and intelligence space.

Because of this acquisition, SpaceX and Anthropic are now locked in a direct battle over AI model development. Both companies want to create the best models to be deployed across a wide variety of applications. The ultimate goal for both is to generate more revenue by dominating the global rollout of these technologies.

Comparing the Revenue Growth

Both companies have reported impressive growth figures over the last several months, making it difficult for investors to pick a clear winner. Anthropic's first six months of the year showed a revenue increase of 1,305% year over year, reaching $16.3 billion. This rapid scaling highlights the massive demand for its AI services.

SpaceX's Super Intelligence division, which handles its AI operations, also showed significant momentum. Its revenue rose 830% year over year during the third quarter to reach $7.56 billion. While these numbers are both high, they represent different timeframes and different types of growth cycles.

Comparing the two head-to-head is complicated because of how the data is reported. Anthropic's figures cover the first 12 months of the year, while SpaceX's figures are specific to the third quarter. Even if Anthropic's revenue were split evenly between the first and second quarters, it would still be larger than the xAI entity.

The Path to Act 2

Analysts suggest that the current period of heavy research and development is only the first act of the AI boom. Many investors feel they missed the initial opportunity to buy into the market early, similar to missing the 2005 Nvidia boom. However, experts argue that the global rollout phase is just beginning.

This second act is expected to be significantly larger than the initial research phase. As the technology moves from the lab to global deployment, the revenue potential for these companies is expected to expand. This transition will determine which company can successfully scale its model to the widest audience.

When the final Q3 growth figures for the AI sector are fully revealed, they will likely show that Anthropic's revenue is more than doubling quarter over quarter. Based on current trends, some analysts expect Anthropic's revenue to be three to four times higher than SpaceX's Super Intelligence division in the coming months.