Reuters reported on October 28th – Heavyweight companies in the AI industry are facing a test from Wall Street, which reflects the market's concerns about who will bear the costs of artificial intelligence development. It is precisely this round of AI development that has driven a large portion of this year's stock market gains.
Anthropic disclosed the documents related to its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, paving the way for what could be the largest stock offering of its kind, reportedly worth $100 billion, which may take place next month.
Meta also announced a plan this week to raise up to $97.5 billion through stock issuance in the coming months.
The market will also be waiting to see if Microsoft and Alphabet will signal any financing plans when they release their financial reports later on Wednesday.
As these AI giants advance their massive financing plans, they are essentially betting that investors' fear of missing out on future returns will outweigh their concerns about overly high bids.
According to the analysis of Carson Group, in the first half of 2026, AI stocks contributed nearly 75% of the return of the S&P 500 index.
Canvas's Chief Investment Strategist, Ehren Stanhope, stated: "The growth of the AI ecosystem over the past few years has been quite astonishing. It seems somewhat contrary to economic principles that such a large company can achieve triple-digit compound annual growth for several consecutive years."
However, the reaction on Wall Street in recent weeks indicates that ambition alone is not enough to persuade investors to spend their money.
Since Meta announced last week its plan to create a new category of stocks to support stock sales and reported quarterly cash consumption for the first time in over a decade, its stock price has fallen by more than 11%.
Although the rapidly growing revenue of Anthropic has helped to alleviate market concerns about the growth of AI, its continuously expanding losses have raised new questions. The company's net loss in the first half of 2026 increased to $80.7 billion, compared to $13 billion in the same period last year.
Renaissance Capital Senior Strategist Matt Kennedy said: "Even Anthropic wouldn't be able to get a blank check."
As the demand for financing increases, circular financing arrangements have also become more common. In other words, funds invested in AI companies may flow back into the hands of investors through their expenditures on computing infrastructure and services.
Smaller companies feel greater pressure
Companies that are relatively smaller in scale but have heavy liabilities are in an even more dire situation. The bond yield of CoreWeave has risen significantly, which has raised questions about how much interest will need to be paid when it next borrows money.
Tuttle Capital Management Founder and CEO Matthew Tuttle stated: "For CoreWeave, the danger lies in the next loan. And when CoreWeave will need this money is just as important as the price itself."
