Anthropic IPO: These 2 chipmakers are the most exposed to more compute demand

Anthropic filed for an initial public offering this week, outlining plans to further increase spending on compute and infrastructure. 

The filing names two chipmakers as the main beneficiaries: Broadcom (AVGO) and NVIDIA (NVDA). Broadcom looks like the more direct play. NVIDIA is the broader, more diversified one. 

Broadcom’s direct line

• Largest customer: Per the prospectus, Anthropic is projected to become Broadcom’s largest custom-chip customer next year (Oct 1, 2026).
• TPU commitment: Anthropic has a $125.2B five-year commitment to lease TPU capacity. Broadcom has agreed to lend up to $42B toward it.
• Third-party financing: Bank of America, Blackstone, Citi and Morgan Stanley are lining up $63B to buy Broadcom AI chips and networking gear for Anthropic. Broadcom provides "residual value support" to the lenders (Oct 26, 2026).
• Company guidance: Broadcom expects AI semiconductor revenue of about $115B in fiscal 2027 and $230B in fiscal 2028 (Oct 1, 2026).

The bear case is that Broadcom is both supplier and lender. The filing flags "potential conflicts of interest." A payment default could trigger immediate lease obligations, and Broadcom’s residual value support leaves it holding some of the risk.

NVIDIA’s merchant-silicon role

One analysis argues that much of the roughly $221B hyperscaler compute mandate runs on merchant GPUs. It says that "reinforces NVIDIA’s data-center dominance" (Oct 26, 2026). The same piece notes the shift toward custom silicon, such as Google’s TPUs and Amazon’s Trainium, which favors Broadcom.

The filing also commits Anthropic to at least $114.5B with Google, $110B with Amazon and $44.9B with Microsoft. That spending is the demand that flows down to chip suppliers.

Market snapshot

Broadcom (AVGO): $329.17, +2.33% at the Oct 26 close (3:59 PM EDT) || Market cap $1.57T || 3M -14.10% || 1Y -9.08% || After-hours $332.98 (as of 9:58 PM EDT)

NVIDIA (NVDA): $216.00, +2.39% at the Oct 26 close (3:59 PM EDT) || Market cap $5.22T || 3M +9.92% || 1Y +12.80% || After-hours $216.73 (as of 9:58 PM EDT)

Broadcom has the more direct exposure but has lagged. It is down 14.10% over three months, and its 52-week range is $289.96 to $495.00. NVIDIA is up over the same period. The market may already be pricing in the demand for NVIDIA, or it may be discounting Broadcom’s financing entanglements.

Risks to the thesis

Anthropic’s own risk factors say its compute commitments could leave it with underused, costly capacity if demand slows. A Rothschild & Co. partner described a "concentrated bet" on a few companies generating enough revenue to support all the financing. If Anthropic’s growth falters, chip suppliers could be exposed.