Strategists at Evercore ISI have warned that the upcoming initial public offerings (IPOs) of OpenAI and Anthropic could trigger a selloff in several struggling stocks, including Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA). The firm, led by Julian Emanuel, anticipates that investors may reduce existing holdings to make room for the anticipated blockbuster AI IPOs.
The report, published by MarketWatch, suggests that the market may see increased pressure on weaker AI-related stocks as investors reallocate capital. This trend is expected to coincide with the post-Labor Day period, which precedes the mutual fund tax-loss selling season in October. During this time, investors often sell underperforming stocks to realize losses and offset capital gains.
To identify potential targets, Evercore screened the Russell 3000 index (RUA) for stocks with specific criteria: a market capitalization above $5 billion, a year-to-date decline of at least 10%, a gain of less than 20% from their 2026 low, and negative earnings-revision trends over the past three months. The screen identified 40 stocks fitting these criteria, including Tesla, International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP), AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTS), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), and First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR).
Separately, reports indicate that Anthropic is targeting a valuation of up to $100 billion and potentially as high as $2 trillion in its IPO, which could occur as early as October. The company reported more than doubling its Q2 revenue to $11.6 billion. OpenAI, meanwhile, has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate for its ChatGPT advertising business and plans to expand ads to over 40 countries, including India.
