Index funds to drive Anthropic's IPO debut, mirroring SpaceX

Anthropic's upcoming IPO next week will see its early share price driven by forced index-fund buying rather than organic demand, mirroring SpaceX's June debut. The AI firm aims to raise up to $64.4 billion, valuing it at $1.4 trillion. Major index providers like Nasdaq will add Anthropic to at least six benchmarks within 5 to 15 days of listing, triggering about $19 billion in passive demand, roughly 28% of shares offered. Index-rebalancing funds and hedge funds are expected to buy early to pre-position for this demand. SpaceX shares rose 50% by day three due to similar dynamics, though they later drifted lower after lock-up expirations. Anthropic differs slightly, allowing employees to sell some shares on day one and raising $26 billion via private sale without lock-ups.