Giants' funding ambitions test Wall Street's appetite for risk

AI heavyweights are pushing massive funding plans into Wall Street even as investors grow more cautious about who ultimately pays for the buildout. Anthropic filed IPO paperwork on Monday, setting the stage for a share sale reported to be worth as much as $100 billion as early as next month. Meta also announced a fundraising plan that could raise up to $97.5 billion through equity offerings. Markets will watch for similar signals from Microsoft and Alphabet when they report later on Wednesday. AI stocks accounted for nearly 75% of the S&P 500’s first-half 2026 gains, but Meta shares have fallen more than 11% since its cash-burn disclosure and stock-class plan. The pressure is heightened by circular financing arrangements.