News & Updates

The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.

SpaceX vs. Rocket Lab: Which Is the Better Space Stock to Buy Right Now?

Space stocks are on many investors' minds these days, but going all-in on this sector right now comes with considerable risk, as most rocket stocks are volatile. Still, two stocks that are no doubt near the top of many investors' watch lists are Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 0.59%) and Rocket Lab (RKLB 3.36%). Here's which one looks like the better buy right now. The case for SpaceX What was once just a rocket company has morphed into an expanding technology behemoth with its sights set on both the space and artificial intelligence (AI) markets. SpaceX has highly ambitious goals for both, including colonizing Mars, launching orbital data centers, expanding its Starlink satellite internet business, and building what some analysts are calling a "sovereign AI" platform in which the company controls the AI model, chip designs, processor manufacturing, and everything in between. That's part of the appeal of SpaceX for some investors -- the company is trying big things, like developing its Starship rocket, which it says will reduce the costs of putting payloads into orbit by at least 90%, or deploying a constellation of data center satellites. Morningstar research puts the total addressable market for its Starlink connectivity business at $129 billion. And the company is making headway on some of its goals. It has 12 million Starlink internet subscribers and generated $1.9 billion in operating profit from that business in the most recent quarter. SpaceX is also making progress with its neocloud business, which leases data center capacity (Earth-bound, for now) to tech companies including Alphabet and Anthropic. That business has already signed more than $81 billion in contracts. And then there's the potential for SpaceX to merge with Elon Musk's other large company, Tesla. That could expand SpaceX's opportunities into the autonomous vehicle and humanoid robot markets, the latter of which could be worth $3 trillion by 2050, according to a Morgan Stanley forecast. The case for Rocket Lab There's some overlap between Rocket Lab and SpaceX, though Rocket Lab isn't building AI data centers or planning to merge with a humanoid robotics company (as of now). The company is instead mostly focused on launching rockets for its customers and on expanding its satellite communications network through its recently announced purchase of Iridium Communications. Rocket Lab has agreed to pay $8 billion for Iridium, and is expected to close on the deal next year, giving it 2.5 million satellite-based mobile subscribers. The service is mainly geared toward the private and government sectors, in contrast to Starlink, which caters more to customers who want at-home internet service. Iridium is profitable, with $114 million in net earnings last year, and the deal will help Rocket Lab expand its satellite communications network to better compete with SpaceX. But Rocket Lab's primary business is sending payloads into space, and in the first quarter, the company signed 31 new deals, selling more launches than it did in all of 2025. The company also has some major launch contracts already signed, including with the U.S. government to establish the satellite system for the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. It also has contracts for missile tracking and military communications. Verdict: Rocket Lab is the better stock to buy right now While Rocket Lab isn't profitable, its loss of $0.07 per share in Q1 was an improvement from its loss of $0.12 per share in the prior-year quarter. Revenue is also growing at a healthy clip, rising 64% to $200 million. In contrast, SpaceX's sales rose just 15% in Q1 to $4.7 billion, and the company's loss of $3.29 per share was dramatically worse than its $0.41 per share loss in the year-ago quarter. SpaceX's massive losses have been fueled by sharp increases in its capital expenditures, which reached $10 billion in Q1 2026 alone, compared to $27 billion for all of 2025. That heavy spending should give investors pause, and so should the lofty valuation of its stock. SpaceX trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of about 94 compared to Rocket Lab's P/S ratio of 66. While neither stock is cheap, SpaceX's shares trade at a much higher premium even as the company ramps up spending and its losses widen. All of which means that Rocket Lab looks like the better space stock to buy right now.

AnthropicSpaceX
The Motley Fool6d ago
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SpaceX vs. Rocket Lab: Which Is the Better Space Stock to Buy Right Now?

How to Spot a Stock Market Bubble 101: Raymond James Just Placed an $800 Price Target on SpaceX, Valuing Elon Musk's Company at $10.5 Trillion

One month ago, on June 12, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) and space economy conglomerate, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) (SPCX 4.75%), rewrote history with its initial public offering (IPO). The $85.7 billion raised, including the underwriters' overallotment, nearly tripled the previous IPO record holder, Saudi Aramco. But in kicking off IPO mania -- large language model developers Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to follow in SpaceX's footsteps -- SpaceX may also be fueling the final stages of an AI bubble that history suggests is waiting to pop. Rarely are stock market bubble warning signs as glaring as Raymond James Financial's price target assigned to SpaceX. Wall Street's high-water price target foresees SpaceX reaching $800 in 2031 Given that 21 underwriters helped bring SpaceX public and received shares for doing so, it should come as no surprise that Wall Street analysts have, as a whole, presented an overwhelmingly positive outlook for the company. But Raymond James Financial analyst Brian Gesuale is a true outlier. His $800 price target by 2031 implies 451% upside, based on where SpaceX's shares ended on July 10, and assumes a valuation of roughly $10.5 trillion. For context, this would be more than double Nvidia's current market cap. Gesuale foresees SpaceX's full-year sales scaling from an estimated $38.5 billion in 2026 to approximately $837 billion by 2031. More importantly, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) are projected to catapult from $17.7 billion in 2026 to $696 billion by 2031. While there's no question that AI and the space economy are two of the hottest addressable opportunities on Wall Street, several headwinds suggest Gesuale's pie-in-the-sky price target is pure fiction and the sign of an end-stage bubble that's about to burst. SpaceX spotlights everything wrong with Wall Street Although the stock market is a long-term wealth-creating machine, it's prone to occasional bubble-bursting events. SpaceX's current $1.91 trillion valuation and Raymond James' $800 price target for the company spotlight everything that's wrong with Wall Street over the short term. For starters, SpaceX hasn't demonstrated that its operating model is sustainable. While satellite-based broadband services provider Starlink is profitable, AI start-up xAI -- the segment responsible for the lion's share of SpaceX's $28.5 trillion addressable market -- is burning cash as Musk's company chases AI compute capacity. Elon Musk also has a terrible track record of fulfilling lofty promises and innovative expectations. As CEO of Tesla, Musk proclaimed that 1 million robotaxis would be on public roads by the end of 2020, which never happened. He's also assured investors that Level 5 full self-driving is "one year away" annually for more than a decade. Musk continually overpromises and underdelivers. SpaceX is likely to be haunted by historical precedent, as well. No company at the forefront of a game-changing technology has sustained a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio above 30 for any extended period. SpaceX is trading at roughly 50 times Gesuale's forecast sales for this year. Lastly, every game-changing technology for more than three decades has navigated an early stage bubble-bursting event. These bubbles have formed because investors constantly overestimate the optimization timeline of innovations. It'll likely be years before SpaceX's solutions are optimized, making Raymond James' high-water price target highly unlikely.

AnthropicxAISpaceX
The Motley Fool8d ago
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How to Spot a Stock Market Bubble 101: Raymond James Just Placed an $800 Price Target on SpaceX, Valuing Elon Musk's Company at $10.5 Trillion

How Low Can SpaceX Stock Go?

Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 4.51%) went public on June 12. Its stock promptly soared to a peak of $225, giving the company a whopping $2.9 trillion market capitalization, but it has since plummeted by 35% to close at $145 on Friday, July 10. SpaceX has a unique business that spans space transportation, satellite internet connectivity, and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, and its revenue is forecast to grow rapidly over the next couple of years. However, its stock remains extremely expensive even after its recent decline, which could open the door to more losses for investors. How low can SpaceX stock go? SpaceX has a significant opportunity ahead Before we dive into SpaceX's hefty valuation and the math behind a potential decline in its stock, let's examine the company's business, which does have significant growth potential. It's divided into three core segments: SpaceX already accounts for over 80% of the world's mass to orbit, so it's launching more commercial payloads than any other company or organization on the planet. Its market share will only grow once its Starship rocket enters regular service, because its 100-ton payload capacity is four times that of the Falcon 9 rocket, which completes most trips today. The connectivity business is also set to receive a massive boost, as SpaceX will start launching its V3 satellites later this year, which offer a whopping 10 times the bandwidth of the current V2 satellites. Moreover, Starship will launch 60 V3 satellites into orbit per trip, whereas Falcon 9 is only capable of sending 27 at a time. Moving on to the AI segment, most of its revenue comes from Grok subscriptions and renting data center capacity to other companies. When SpaceX bought xAI, it took ownership of data centers like Colossus and Colossus II, which are fitted with hundreds of thousands of specialized AI chips from suppliers like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. SpaceX eventually wants to send AI computing clusters into space, where they will run on solar power and won't need complex cooling systems. This infrastructure would send data back to Earth via Starlink satellites, giving SpaceX a huge advantage over any potential competitors entering this industry. Although Elon Musk founded SpaceX to focus on space exploration and transportation, the company values its opportunity in this segment at just $370 billion. That pales in comparison to the potential $1.6 trillion addressable market in the connectivity business, and the staggering $26.5 trillion opportunity in the AI infrastructure business. SpaceX stock is trading at a sky-high premium to the broader market SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in total revenue during 2025, which was up 33% from the prior year. This was the composition: Data source: SpaceX. While connectivity was the largest and fastest-growing segment last year, that looks set to change. SpaceX recently agreed to rent up to $1.25 billion in AI computing capacity per month to Anthropic, in addition to another $920 million per month to Alphabet, and $150 million per month to Reflection AI. These deals could amount to tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue over the next few years. In fact, Wall Street's average forecast (provided by Yahoo! Finance) suggests SpaceX could more than double its revenue to $38.8 billion in 2026 and then generate $72.4 billion in revenue in 2027. That brings me to its valuation. Based on SpaceX's trailing 12-month revenue and its $1.91 trillion market capitalization, its stock is trading at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 98.9, making it 15 times as expensive as the Nasdaq-100 index, which has a P/S ratio of just 6.4. In other words, SpaceX is wildly overvalued relative to its big-tech peers. Even if we value SpaceX stock using Wall Street's 2027 revenue forecast, its forward P/S ratio is still a hefty 26.3. I'm not predicting this will happen, but the stock would have to plummet by 76% over the next 18 months just to trade in line with the current P/S ratio of the Nasdaq-100 index. In my opinion, the math suggests SpaceX stock will have a tough time generating upside for the foreseeable future, and I won't be surprised to see a decline of 50% (or more), particularly if the company fails to meet Wall Street's revenue expectations.

AnthropicxAISpaceX
The Motley Fool9d ago
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How Low Can SpaceX Stock Go?

Prediction: SpaceX Shares Can Reach $220 by End of 2026

Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 4.51%) has become one of the market's most closely watched stocks after its rapid entry into the Nasdaq-100 index on July 7. Shares are trading close to $149 (as of July 10), still above its $135 IPO price, but nearly 34% below its post-IPO high of $225.60. This share price pullback has not ended investor interest in SpaceX, but it has changed the debate. Investors are now weighing the company's artificial intelligence (AI) compute opportunity, Starlink satellite internet network's room to expand in satellite communications, and progress on the next-generation reusable rocket system, Starship, as they assess where the stock could trade by the end of 2026. SpaceX has growth drivers for its revenue SpaceX is already demonstrating impressive financial momentum. Revenue rose 33% year over year to $18.7 billion in 2025. But the company still reported a net loss of $4.9 billion after merging with money-losing xAI. Starlink remains the key growth engine, supported by roughly 10.3 million users and 9,600 satellites. But AI infrastructure is also becoming the next major catalyst. Alphabet has agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month from October 2026 through June 2029 for access to about 110,000 Nvidia GPUs and related computing resources. Anthropic has also signed a major compute-access deal with SpaceX, securing use of SpaceX's Colossus 1 data center. Reuters reported that SpaceX's two deals are worth about $26 billion annually if fully realized. Although not all the AI revenue from these deals is expected to materialize in 2026, it still gives investors a reason to value SpaceX based on future revenue potential rather than solely on 2025 sales. SpaceX's valuation will fall, but remain expensive At the end of 2026, investors will likely be looking toward SpaceX's expected 2027 revenue, since the stock's valuation depends on how quickly Starlink, AI compute, and Starship can expand the company's sales base. SpaceX's market capitalization is close to $2 trillion. Analysts' 2026 revenue estimates range from $34.3 billion on the low end to $43.2 billion on the high end, with a base case estimate of about $38.9 billion. Hence, SpaceX is already trading at roughly 51.4 times base case 2026 sales. By the end of 2026, that multiple will most likely compress, as post-IPO excitement usually cools and investors demand evidence of execution. But it also does not need to collapse if SpaceX continues to show progress in Starlink, AI infrastructure, and Starship. A reasonable base-case assumption is that SpaceX's sales multiple compresses by about 20% to 25% from today's 51.4x 2026 sales multiple. That gives a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple range of roughly 38.5 to 41 times expected 2027 sales. Analysts expect SpaceX's 2027 revenue to range from $54.8 billion to $85 billion, with an average estimate of $72.4 billion. Applying a forward sales multiple of 38.5 to 41 times to the 2027 base case revenue estimate yields an implied market capitalization of about $2.79 trillion to $2.97 trillion. Using roughly 13.1 billion shares outstanding, that points to a share price in the range of $213 to $227 at the end of 2026. Hence, $220 is a reasonable base case estimate. It assumes that while SpaceX's valuation multiple compresses, revenue growth offsets the pressure enough to lift the share price.

SpaceXxAIAnthropic
The Motley Fool10d ago
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Prediction: SpaceX Shares Can Reach $220 by End of 2026

SpaceX Was Just Flooded With Buy Reports Across Wall Street. Do Analysts Know Something Retail Investors Don't?

This week, a wave of equity research reports from sell-side analysts was released on Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +2.38%). The big takeaway is that Wall Street is overwhelmingly bullish on SpaceX stock. With so many banks publishing their first formal reports on SpaceX and coming to the same optimistic outlook, it begs the question: Does Wall Street know something retail investors don't? Why were so many reports for SpaceX stock published on the same day? When a company completes its initial public offering (IPO) and its shares begin trading, a quiet period begins. This window typically lasts between 25 and 40 days after the newly public company begins trading. During the quiet period, the investment banks that underwrote the IPO are prohibited from issuing forward-looking statements, promotional material, or equity research analysis. The rule exists to prevent the same institutions that helped price and sell the IPO stock in question from immediately hyping the deal or leaking material information that could influence market sentiment. Analysts working for the lead underwriters must remain silent because any positive research they publish too close to the offering could be viewed as an extension of the marketing effort rather than independent analysis. Once the quiet period ends, these banks are free to initiate coverage. In the case of SpaceX, this is exactly what just happened: A cluster of reports appeared on the same day because the calendar restriction had been lifted. What does Wall Street think of SpaceX stock? The table below summarizes the ratings and stock price targets analysts recently issued for SpaceX. Data Source: Yahoo! Finance Among the firms in the table, all gave Buy or Buy-equivalent ratings on SpaceX stock, except one. Unsurprisingly, longtime Tesla supporter and former Wedbush analyst Dan Ives is bullish on SpaceX. The price targets primarily range between $190 and $300, with notable outliers at Raymond James and MoffettNathanson. SpaceX's bullish thesis converges on three interlocking growth drivers. First, Starlink is shifting from primarily consumer broadband toward enterprise and telecommunications customers. This could unlock higher-margin contracts with government agencies, airlines, maritime operators, and large corporations that require reliable global connectivity. Second, SpaceX is positioned to support the acceleration of AI infrastructure buildouts by delivering additional capacity to hyperscalers. So far, SpaceX has signed $82 billion in infrastructure deals with Anthropic, Google Cloud, and Reflection AI. Third, operational improvements in rocket reusability and launch cadence in the Starship program stand to dramatically lower costs to orbit. These efficiencies can help expand SpaceX's addressable market for both satellite deployment and crewed missions. Taken together, these variables paint a picture of a company transitioning from a high-burn, capital-intensive launch and satellite operator into a diversified technology enabler with multidecade tailwinds. Understanding the limits of analyst price targets Wall Street analysts tend to have meaningful access to the C-Suite at large companies. By contrast, retail investors usually have a tough time getting past the Investor Relations department. With this in mind, many Wall Street analysts have access to information that most investors do not. However, they are strictly prohibited from issuing reports based solely on that information. This is all to say that even if Wall Street does know certain things that most investors do not, the price targets above are still just opinions -- not guarantees. These price targets rest heavily on modeling assumptions about revenue growth, profit margins, and discount rates that can shift quickly. Blindly chasing the most optimistic targets or treating the consensus opinion as a certainty ignores the fact that the stock market tends to price in best-case scenarios before they actually materialize. Investors who rely solely on these reports risk overlooking valuation discipline, balance-sheet risk, and the possibility that even accurate long-term narratives can produce stomach-churning short-term drawdowns. While the end of the quiet period gives investors a clearer picture of professional sentiment around SpaceX stock, these views are just one data point among many.

AnthropicSpaceX
The Motley Fool13d ago
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SpaceX Was Just Flooded With Buy Reports Across Wall Street. Do Analysts Know Something Retail Investors Don't?

SpaceX Is Joining the Nasdaq-100 This Week. What This Means for Invesco QQQ Investors.

Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 0.97%), otherwise known as SpaceX, is joining the Nasdaq-100 index today. This means that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the index, including the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ +1.43%), will soon own the stock indirectly. J.P. Morgan, part of JPMorgan Chase, expects this index inclusion to trigger about $4.3 billion in passive buying from index-tracking funds. Although this will serve as a clear near-term demand catalyst for SpaceX, Invesco QQQ Trust investors are also getting exposure to a founder-controlled company with a limited number of publicly traded shares (float) and an unprofitable business. Why SpaceX's Nasdaq-100 entry matters for QQQ investors Invesco QQQ Trust tracks the Nasdaq-100, which includes the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on Nasdaq. SpaceX's quick entry became possible because the Nasdaq-100 changed its inclusion rules in 2026. Starting May 1, large newly public companies like SpaceX can be added after just 15 trading days if they rank among the top 40 eligible Nasdaq-listed companies. However, if only a limited number of shares are publicly traded, Nasdaq can limit how much weight the stock gets in the index. The change reflects today's market, where some very large companies stay private for longer and list with only a limited number of shares available for public investors. SpaceX's Nasdaq-100 inclusion will give Invesco QQQ Trust investors exposure to the space, satellite broadband, and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company before S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.72%) index fund investors get it automatically. Reuters reported that SpaceX would need at least 12 months of public trading history, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profitability, and a public float of at least 10% before it can be considered for inclusion in the S&P 500. However, according to Reuters' estimates, SpaceX's public float is only 3% to 4%. The company also posted a $4.94 billion net loss in 2025. Since only a small portion of SpaceX shares is available for public trading, buying by funds that track the Nasdaq-100 can have a bigger effect on the stock price. But once that buying is complete, the same limited supply of tradable shares can also make the stock move more sharply if investors start selling. So, Invesco QQQ Trust investors should ask whether SpaceX's Nasdaq-100 inclusion has already lifted the stock enough to limit its near-term gains. Starlink is the key business to watch The best reason for Invesco QQQ Trust investors to take SpaceX seriously is its Starlink satellite internet business. SpaceX generated $18.7 billion of revenue in 2025, with the Starlink-powered connectivity business accounting for about 60% of total sales. The business had about 10.3 million users across roughly 9,600 satellites at the end of the first quarter. Starlink is SpaceX's clearest profit engine and is helping offset losses from the company's other growth initiatives. In the first quarter, the connectivity segment generated $1.2 billion of operating profit. But SpaceX still reported a total operating loss of $1.9 billion on $4.7 billion of revenue. SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 rocket has helped make the company a leading launch provider for NASA, the Pentagon, and commercial customers. According to Reuters, SpaceX has gone from one launch in 2006 to more than two launches per week, giving it a much faster launch pace than its rivals. The Federal Communications Commission has approved SpaceX to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, bringing the approved Gen2 satellite count to 15,000. More satellites should give Starlink more network capacity, which can support faster broadband and mobile connectivity service, as well as growth in aviation, maritime, enterprise, and government markets. Additionally, if the next-generation reusable rocket system, Starship, works at commercial scale, it could lower launch costs and help SpaceX deploy larger, higher-capacity satellites faster. Investors are getting growth, but also uncertainty The biggest risk is that Invesco QQQ Trust is being required to buy an expensive story. SpaceX currently trades at nearly 81 times trailing-12-month sales, even though it is a money-losing business. SpaceX's AI business could become a major long-term growth engine, especially after Anthropic agreed to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for compute capacity. But investors should not treat that as guaranteed revenue. Reuters reported that either company can terminate the agreement with 90 days' notice, and that fees are lower during the ramp-up period. The company is also spending heavily on an AI infrastructure business that is not yet profitable. In the first quarter, the AI segment reported an operating loss of nearly $2.5 billion on $818 million of revenue. Additionally, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk accounts for 82.3% of SpaceX's voting power. Hence, although public investors may own the stock, they will have little control over major company decisions. So, Invesco QQQ Trust investors are getting automatic exposure to a company where major decisions will remain heavily shaped by Musk, not by public shareholders. NASA's inspector general said SpaceX's Artemis III Starship work has faced delays, while refueling the vehicle in space remains one of the biggest technical challenges. With Starship being crucial to SpaceX's plan to launch more satellites at lower cost and support NASA's moon missions, it also adds to the company's execution risk. Invesco QQQ Trust investors should not panic over one index addition. SpaceX will likely be a modest initial QQQ position because of its limited float. But investors should recognize that QQQ is becoming a slightly more aggressive fund, with higher valuation risk, more execution risk, and more Musk-specific governance risk. While SpaceX's addition is not a reason to abandon the ETF, it should also remind investors that the Invesco QQQ Trust is not a broad-market fund. Investors should watch Starlink profits, AI losses, Starship progress, and future earnings reports before assuming this index addition is automatically good news.

SpaceXAnthropic
The Motley Fool15d ago
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SpaceX Is Joining the Nasdaq-100 This Week. What This Means for Invesco QQQ Investors.

Anthropic Could Be a $1 Trillion IPO This Fall. These 2 Stocks Already Own a Piece.

The next giant public offering is already in motion. Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the Claude models, confidentially filed to go public on June 1, on the heels of a funding round that raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation. Its reported annualized revenue is approaching $50 billion, and a listing reportedly could come as early as this fall. The trajectory behind those numbers has few precedents. Anthropic's reported revenue run rate was about $4 billion as recently as last July, and expectations reportedly call for $10.9 billion of revenue in the second quarter alone. Only a handful of companies listed on U.S. exchanges carry a market value above Anthropic's last private mark. Individual investors, of course, can't buy shares yet. But two of the market's most familiar names bought in years ago, and their stakes have quietly become staggeringly large paper windfalls: Amazon (AMZN +0.55%) and Alphabet (GOOG 0.48%)(GOOGL 0.23%). Which stock gives investors the better claim on the debut? Run the stakes. 1. Amazon: the bigger, quieter stake Amazon invested $8 billion in Anthropic convertible notes from Q3 2023 to Q4 2025, with portions later converted to nonvoting preferred stock. The company has never disclosed an ownership percentage. But estimates built from its filings put the stake in the mid-to-high teens, worth perhaps $135 billion to $160 billion at Anthropic's current valuation -- and Amazon has committed to invest up to $20 billion more. By April, the position -- $42.2 billion of convertible notes plus $32 billion of nonvoting preferred -- was already carried at more than $74 billion on paper, before the latest round could mark it higher. The mark-ups are already flowing through Amazon's results. In the first quarter, it recognized $16.8 billion of pre-tax gains included in non-operating income from its Anthropic investments -- more than 40% of its pre-tax income for the period. Set the stake against Amazon's own size, and the leverage shows. At a market value of about $2.6 trillion, a $150 billion position amounts to nearly 6% of the company. A $1 trillion IPO price would push it higher still. 2. Alphabet: the capped stake with a complication Alphabet's position is more precisely known. Court documents put it at roughly 14% of Anthropic in straight equity, contractually capped at 15% -- worth about $135 billion at the last private valuation. And in April, the company reportedly committed up to $40 billion more, with $10 billion arriving immediately and the rest tied to milestones. Alphabet's books already show a similar private-investment effect, too. Its first quarter included about $28.7 billion in net income from equity securities gains -- nearly half of a record $62.6 billion quarterly profit. But the stake lands differently at Alphabet's scale. Against a market value of about $4.4 trillion, $135 billion works out to about 3% of the company. And there's a strategic issue Amazon doesn't carry to the same degree: Alphabet competes directly with the company it part-owns, selling its Gemini models against Anthropic's Claude. Which stock gives you the better claim? A public listing changes two things for these holders. It prints a market price on stakes both companies currently value by accounting estimate, and it opens a path -- eventually -- to converting paper gains into cash. For Anthropic exposure per dollar invested, Amazon wins the math. Its estimated stake is as large as Alphabet's or larger, inside a company about 40% smaller -- so every move in Anthropic's value means roughly twice as much to Amazon shareholders as it does to Alphabet's. But there are some caveats. These are paper values, and an IPO would finally test them in a public market that can be far less generous than a private funding round. Much of both positions also sits in instruments -- convertible notes, capped equity -- whose economics differ from common stock, which is exactly why the eventual filing details matter. Still, the conclusion holds. If the reason to own one of these two stocks is Anthropic, I'd buy Amazon: the exposure is meaningfully larger relative to the company's size, and it comes without the awkwardness of funding a direct competitor. Alphabet shareholders get a fine consolation prize -- a capped-but-enormous stake, already padding reported profits. But if Anthropic prices at $1 trillion or more this fall, Amazon is the stock whose windfall is large enough to move the whole investment case.

Anthropic
The Motley Fool17d ago
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Anthropic Could Be a $1 Trillion IPO This Fall. These 2 Stocks Already Own a Piece.