Anthropic is close to finalising a funding round of more than $20 billion, according to the Financial Times and Bloomberg. The round is expected to close in the second week of February and would value the company at about $350 billion.
Deutsche Bank research expects Anthropic’s cash burn to stay modest over the next 2–3 years. It also expects the company could reach break-even by 2028.
Claude Opus Model And Competitive Pressure
As of February 2026, Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4.6. It includes multi-agent coordination and a 1-million-token context window. The model is aimed at financial research work, including screening, market intelligence, and due diligence.
Amazon has invested $8 billion and recorded $9.5 billion in pre-tax income in Q3 2025 from its stake. Alphabet has invested $3.3 billion and supplies TPUs for Claude training. Nvidia has committed $10 billion and is also a major GPU supplier.
Claude’s legal plugin targets workflows linked to Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw and overlaps with RELX’s LexisNexis tools. The article also says Anthropic has a 2026 revenue target of $20–$26 billion.
The S&P 500 is described as trading around 6900, with 7500 noted as a measured-move level. It also points to a deepening bearish RSI divergence as a warning sign.
Market Volatility And Options Positioning
With Anthropic’s $20 billion funding round expected to close next week, this could become a major volatility event for the AI sector. Traders may see higher options premiums in key partners such as Amazon and Nvidia as the market prices in the outcome. Past examples suggest large funding events—such as major AI infrastructure rounds in 2025—can trigger sharp, short-lived price moves.
Claude Opus 4.6 may also widen the gap between AI platforms and data providers, putting pressure on firms such as Thomson Reuters and RELX. One approach is to trade this split with options—for example, buying calls on Alphabet while buying puts on RELX. Implied volatility on RELX March-expiry options has reportedly jumped above 45% in the past two weeks, which signals rising trader concern.
Even with a strong AI narrative, the broader market looks less stable. The S&P 500 sits near 6900 and technical signals show bearish divergence. Last week’s CPI reading of 3.1% came in hotter than expected and has increased market sensitivity, echoing inflation fears seen in 2025. If the Anthropic deal stumbles, it could become a catalyst for a wider pullback. In that case, protective puts on the SPX index may help hedge risk.
Given the uncertainty, volatility itself may be the trade in the weeks ahead. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has been moving up from last year’s lows and has recently tested 18. If the funding round disappoints or economic data weakens further, the VIX could spike quickly. Long VIX call options are one way to position for that outcome.
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