The Anthropic and OpenAI IPO outlook is under scrutiny after both companies filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within days of each other, even as AI stocks face a volatile backdrop, according to Marc Kimsey, director at F&O Research, speaking on the UK Investor Magazine podcast.
Kimsey reviewed the first half of 2026 and set out where he expects winners and losers to emerge across AI, UK equities, and the space sector for the rest of the year.
Anthropic and OpenAI IPO Outlook: Two Filings, One Question
Anthropic confirmed it submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the SEC on 1 June 2026. The number of shares to be offered and the price have not yet been set. An aggregator report places its most recent valuation at $965 billion following the close of its Series H funding round on 28 May 2026, though that figure has not been confirmed by a primary filing.
CNBC reported that OpenAI filed confidentially on or around 8 June 2026, approximately one week after Anthropic, and is valued at more than $850 billion. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC in April 2026 that it is ‘good hygiene’ for a business of OpenAI’s size to ‘look and feel and act’ like a public company, though she declined to comment on a specific IPO timeline.
Kimsey raised the question of whether recent AI market volatility could cause either company to delay its public debut. The back-to-back confidential filings put the Anthropic and OpenAI IPO outlook near the top of investors’ agenda for the second half of 2026.
AST SpaceMobile: Strong Returns, Deep Losses
Kimsey highlighted AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) as one of F&O Research’s top performers this year. The stock closed at $105.86 on 22 May 2026, having posted a one-month return of 37.12% as of that date, according to Yahoo Finance.
The company reported Q1 2026 revenue of $14.7 million, driven by commercial gateway deliveries and US government milestones, and held approximately $3.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash as of 31 March 2026, per the Q1 2026 earnings release.
The loss picture is less comfortable. AST SpaceMobile recorded a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $191.012 million for Q1 2026, equivalent to a basic and diluted loss of $0.66 per Class A share, compared with a net loss of $45.706 million ($0.20 per share) in Q1 2025, according to an 8-K filing summarised by StockTitan.
Institutional interest has grown alongside the share price. At the end of Q4 2025, 33 hedge fund portfolios held ASTS, up from 25 in the prior quarter, according to Yahoo Finance citing database records.
Kimsey discussed whether the space trade retains momentum following SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO and what that listing means for the broader sector.
UK Equities and Housebuilders
The podcast also covered the case for UK stocks as a source of portfolio stability, with Kimsey assessing whether British equities offer a credible alternative to US technology exposure after a turbulent first half.
Housebuilders featured as a discrete theme. Kimsey examined whether the sector’s recovery has further to run as the planning reform agenda and interest rate expectations for the second half of 2026 continue to shape the outlook.
On AI more broadly, Kimsey debated whether the sell-off seen earlier in 2026 represents a healthy correction or the beginning of a more sustained deflation of valuations, and where the spending boom’s genuine beneficiaries are likely to surface.
Kimsey’s top picks for the full year 2026 are available in the podcast, alongside an analysis of the Anthropic S-1 filing context. The timing of the Anthropic and OpenAI IPO outlook now hinges on whether market conditions stabilise enough for either company to set terms before the year-end window closes.
