Saudi stocks ended Tuesday’s trading on an upward note, recording the highest close in about 3 weeks, supported by the rise of banking and leadership stocks, in addition to gains by a number of companies linked to the results of the third quarter.
The main market index, TASI, ended Tuesday's session up by 0.6 percent, closing at 10,168 points, adding 61 points, amid trades with a total value of about 4.9 billion riyals ($1.3 billion).
The index recorded the highest level during the session at 10,181 points, while it reached the lowest level at 10,098 points.
“Al Rajhi Bank” shares rose by 2.6 percent, “Acwa Power” shares rose by 2.4 percent, and “Al Ahli Saudi” shares rose by 0.8 percent.
On the other hand, “Saudi Aramco” shares declined by 1.9 percent, and “SABIC” shares declined by 0.9 percent.
In the context of stocks related to the financial results for the third quarter of 2026, “Aslak” and “Integrated” shares rose by about 10 percent, and “Sira” shares rose by 5.7 percent, and “Northern Cement” rose by 3.8 percent.
On the other hand, “Smasco” shares fell by 5.2 percent, “Saudi Energy” and “Al Hammadi” shares fell by 2.6 percent each, while “MBC Group” shares fell by 0.9 percent.
Anthropic is preparing to raise up to $64.4 billion through an initial public offering of its shares, in conjunction with preparing to launch its marketing campaign for the offering, according to a regulatory disclosure issued on Tuesday, in a move that constitutes a prominent test of the extent to which Wall Street’s confidence in the artificial intelligence boom outweighs concerns about the risks facing the sector.
The company is targeting a valuation of up to $1.02 trillion, according to Reuters calculations, based on the number of outstanding shares mentioned in the disclosure.
On Tuesday, the agency revealed that Anthropic and some of its investors intend to sell shares within an indicative price range of between $70 and $78 per share.
The company is launching a promotional tour for the offering, which is expected to constitute a historic milestone in the stock market and set a standard for the artificial intelligence sector, after years of optimism that contributed to the flow of huge investments into companies in this field.
Anthropic will also raise $26 billion through a separate private placement deal, with the participation of major investors including Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Group, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), according to what was reported by Reuters.
Taking into account the investments of the parties participating in the IPO, which also include Broadcom, Micron Technology, Microsoft, and TSMC, the total proceeds of the Anthropic offering may reach $90.4 billion.
The company disclosed that a recommended charitable fund, founded by Reed Hastings, has expressed interest in purchasing Class A shares at the initial public offering price, with a value of up to $300 million.
According to emails seen by Reuters, details of the huge deal were briefly circulated among investment banks, before being withdrawn late on Monday.
The second half of the year brought signs of a reassessment of the artificial intelligence boom, with investors increasingly questioning the ability of returns to justify massive spending and rising debt costs in light of rising interest rates.
Concerns are also growing about the sustainability of the investment cycle in the sector, in light of questions about circular financing arrangements, the possibility of infrastructure capacity becoming too much, and the speed with which companies can turn their investments in artificial intelligence into revenues.
On Thursday, the Nasdaq index, which is dominated by technology stocks, recorded its largest daily decline in 19 months, wiping out trillions of dollars in market value, amid fears of increased scrutiny of the artificial intelligence sector, especially data center construction projects, following the significant gains achieved by the Democrats in the US midterm elections.
Increased oversight and potential regulatory hurdles will complicate plans to expand the infrastructure underpinning the AI boom.
However, Anthropic's growth has not yet been affected by these concerns, driven by the increasing demand for its products, especially the "Cloud" models, which have achieved wide spread.
In its disclosure, the company spoke of its vision to “launch an era of miracles,” but at the same time it warned of existential risks threatening humanity, in a reflection of the exceptional potential and profound uncertainty that constitute the core of the artificial intelligence boom.
Potential investors in the upcoming offering of Anthropic had pushed for a more attractive valuation before committing to the IPO, as some of them saw that the valuation of $1.5 trillion, which was recently traded, was at the upper end of expectations, according to what was reported by Reuters.
Growth involves risks
Anthropic's net losses decreased during the third quarter, while its revenues jumped by 47 percent compared to the previous quarter, reaching $16.96 billion, despite the slow pace of its growth, after recording an increase of 144 percent during the previous quarter.
The company attributed this rapid growth to the increasing spread of the “Cloud” model, including specialized products targeting sectors such as healthcare, financial services, and legal services. She said that its use of artificial intelligence systems has already contributed to accelerating its research and development activities.
The IPO prospectus monitored a set of risks facing the company and artificial intelligence technologies in general, warning that competitors may gain ground over them by developing models at a faster pace, and that the development of artificial intelligence technologies may exceed Anthropic’s ability to put in place adequate safety and security measures.
The company also acknowledged that its models had behaved in the past, and may behave in the future, in ways that were not intended or inconsistent with the specified objectives, or independently.
These warnings come at a time when incidents related to “out of control” artificial intelligence agents, which have managed to escape from isolated operating environments and infiltrate the systems of private companies, are increasing, along with fears that increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence tools can be used by hackers to penetrate protected networks.
Anthropic's ambitions also entail huge infrastructure costs. The company disclosed that its total spending commitments amount to about $900.9 billion, under purchase commitments and lease agreements in place until September 30 and beyond.
The company had indicated its commitment to provide computing capabilities of approximately $900 billion with partners, including “Amazon” and “Google”, affiliated with the “Alphabet” group, which highlights the extent to which its rapid growth depends on securing massive computing capabilities in the future, part of which financing depends on parties outside the company’s control.
Anthropic's move towards listing comes after Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, raised $75 billion in June through the world's largest initial public offering, at a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion, not counting the additional shares purchased by the underwriters under the additional allocation option known as "Green Show."
The latest valuation of Anthropic, which is in intense competition with OpenAI for market share, was $965 billion in a private financing round. Its most prominent investors include Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenox, and Sequoia Capital.
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of researchers who left OpenAI, following disagreements over governance and the safety of artificial intelligence, and is led by its CEO, Dario Amodei.
The company's shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the symbol "ENT" after the completion of the offering, becoming one of the few major companies to list its shares on the markets this fall, at a time when high borrowing costs, geopolitical turmoil, and rising bond yields are affecting the initial public offerings market.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the consortium of investment banks pledged to cover the offering.
