Anthropic lands BB+ credit rating from KBRA, one notch below investment grade

Anthropic now has a credit rating, and it lands at the very top of junk territory. In June 2026, the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assigned the AI company a BB+ rating with a stable outlook.

That is the highest speculative-grade score available, sitting one notch below investment grade.

The rating matters because Anthropic plans to spend more than $500 billion on data centers and infrastructure over the next decade. Money at that scale does not come from venture checks alone. It comes from debt markets, and debt markets care deeply about letter grades.

The deal behind the rating

KBRA issued the rating in connection with a $35 billion financing transaction. The package is designed to support Broadcom’s AI chip platform.

Apollo Global Management led the deal, with BlackRock among the significant participants.

Roughly $4.4 billion of the package was structured as subordinated debt. That slice puts investors directly on the hook for Anthropic’s credit risk.

The subordinated debt yields approximately 8.5%, while the senior debt yields around 5.75%. Investors in the riskier tranche are being paid noticeably more to accept their place in line.

A rating built on partial information

KBRA did not have the full picture when it assigned the grade. Anthropic provided limited financial disclosures to the agency.

The company shared some revenue metrics. It did not provide key figures such as free cash flow and EBITDA.

As a result, KBRA relied on a proprietary, in-house credit risk scoring system rather than a full forecast model. The output indicates moderate credit risk, with room for improvement as the company matures and offers more comprehensive disclosures.

Since then, Anthropic has reported results that look considerably stronger than a cautious rating might suggest. Second-quarter revenue reached about $11.5 billion. Third-quarter revenue climbed to $16.8 billion, a 46% increase quarter over quarter.

The third quarter also marked Anthropic’s second consecutive quarter of adjusted profitability.

Why investment grade is the real prize

Many large institutional investors are restricted from, or simply averse to, holding speculative-grade securities. An investment-grade rating would open the door to those buyers and could lower Anthropic’s borrowing costs across future deals.

That explains why bankers are lobbying for Anthropic to reach investment-grade status. The push comes as anticipation builds around a potential IPO.

The most direct lever available to Anthropic is disclosure. KBRA’s assessment leaned on an internal scoring approach precisely because the company held back figures like free cash flow and EBITDA. Fuller reporting would give raters a more complete basis for judgment.

For the broader AI sector, the deal is a signal worth tracking. Chip platforms, data centers and the companies building on them increasingly rely on structured debt rather than equity alone.