Kroll Bond Rating Agency has assigned Anthropic a BB+ credit rating with a positive outlook, placing the Claude developer one notch below investment grade ahead of an initial public offering expected in November. BB+ sits directly beneath the BBB- threshold where investment grade ends and speculative grade begins, and a positive outlook signals the direction in which an agency sees potential room for the rating to move rather than a change in the rating itself. The rating arrives as Wall Street banks prepare $60 billion in financing for the company's custom AI chip purchases and as Anthropic reports revenue growth that remains strong but is slowing.

Reports on October 16 said the rating was assigned in June. It applies to about $4.4 billion in subordinated debt, part of a $35 billion financing package led by Apollo Global Management. Subordinated debt ranks lower in the repayment order than senior obligations, a structure that typically carries higher interest rates — consistent with the 8.5% rate on the subordinated portion against 5.75% on the senior debt, which is guaranteed by Broadcom.

Kroll, also known as KBRA, based its assessment on limited financial information provided by the company, including revenue, adjusted operating income and internal forecasts. Because a full financial model was not possible, analysts instead used a risk scoring system.

News of the rating drew attention on X, where markets account *Walter Bloomberg posted:

ANTHROPIC SECURES BB+ CREDIT RATING AS WALL STREET PREPARES $60 BILLION AI FINANCING

Anthropic received a BB+ credit rating from KBRA, just one notch below investment grade, ahead of a $35 billion chip financing deal. Now, Wall Street banks are reportedly assembling another $60…

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) October 16, 2026

Banks Prepare $60 Billion for AI Chips

Major banks are preparing a $60 billion financing deal to support Anthropic's purchase of custom AI chips. The package includes $18 billion in subordinated debt tied to computing infrastructure built with Google and Broadcom. The newly reported effort would come on top of the earlier $35 billion chip financing package.

Anthropic could also issue up to $42 billion in convertible notes — debt that can convert into equity — to pay for chip leasing, though Kroll did not receive details of those notes during its review.

The financing comes ahead of an IPO expected in November. An investment grade rating could open the door to more institutional lenders and may lower borrowing costs. As of June 30, Anthropic had no debt directly on its balance sheet. Moody's, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch are expected to review the company's credit after it goes public, drawing on the fuller disclosures required of listed companies.

Revenue Growth Slows as Valuation Talks Shift

At an October 14 investor presentation, Anthropic reported third-quarter revenue of $16.8 billion, an increase of about 45% from the second quarter and a second straight quarter of adjusted profit. Revenue was $4.7 billion in the first quarter and $11.6 billion in the second, meaning growth in the third quarter was slower than in earlier quarters.

According to Reuters, some investors have discussed an IPO valuation of about $1.5 trillion, down from earlier expectations closer to $2 trillion. In May, Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion post-money valuation and said annualized revenue had passed $47 billion at the time.

An IPO prospectus reviewed by Reuters showed 2025 revenue of nearly $4.6 billion and an operating loss of more than $8 billion for that year. About $34 billion of the company's reported $42 billion net loss came from an accounting charge tied to financing instruments that could into shares.

The prospectus also shows at least $518 billion in commitments for cloud services, computing power and infrastructure, spread across roughly a decade.

Concerns over debt tied to AI infrastructure have grown across the sector. CoreWeave's stock and bonds have fallen, and some data-center companies have delayed or pulled planned public offerings, according to Reuters.

Separately, on October 8, Anthropic committed $150 million to U.S. AI research through the Genesis Mission. The funding supports research using Claude at more than 15 federal science agencies.