Top Midday Stories: Anthropic Files With SEC for IPO; Meta Looking to Raise $95 Billion From Stock Offerings for AI Expansion

12:15 PM EDT, 10/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US stock indexes were up in late-morning trading Monday, as tech stocks led the way up after Anthropic filed publicly for its highly anticipated initial public offering. In company news, Anthropic on Monday filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO of Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "ANT." The number of shares and the per-share offering price were not disclosed. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) were named as the lead underwriters for the IPO, the filing said. The filing sets the company up to introduce its shares to the public in November before Thanksgiving, according to media reports. Goldman and Morgan Stanley shares were up 2.1% and 2.6%, respectively. Meta Platforms (META) said Monday it plans to raise about $95 billion from share offerings as part of a financing plan to help fund emerging artificial intelligence opportunities as well as for its core business. The tech giant said it has launched two concurrent offerings worth about $35 billion, including $22.5 billion in class A common stock and $12.5 billion in depositary shares representing new convertible preferred stock. Separately, Meta said it plans to launch an at-the-market program of about $60 billion after its previously announced Class C common stock begins trading. Meta shares were flat. EQT (EQT) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Range Resources (RRC) in an all-stock deal that will create a natural gas company with a pro forma enterprise value of over $50 billion, EQT said. Range shareholders will receive 0.987 shares of EQT for each Range share they own. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2027, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, the company said. EQT shares were down 3.4%, while Range shares were up 15.7%. Surgery Partners (SGRY) has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by HealthSpan Partners in an all-cash deal valued at an enterprise value of about $5.7 billion, the companies said Monday. Under the deal terms, Surgery Partners shareholders will receive $23.50 in cash per share, while affiliates of Bain Capital will roll over their shares in Surgery Partners in exchange for equity interests in the acquiring entity, the companies said. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 of 2027, subject to the approval of Surgery Partners' shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, they said. Surgery Partners shares were up 46.5%. SpaceX (SPCX) has entered into a lease agreement totaling about $40 billion with an Apollo Global Management-managed (APO) entity, under which it will obtain graphics processing unit pods and equipment for its data centers, SpaceX said Monday in a regulatory filing. The finance lease is expected to close prior to the end of the year, with lease schedules commencing in H1 of 2027 upon delivery of the GPUs, the company said. Separately, Apollo and other investors are expected to commit $5 billion to the investment strategies of and take minority stakes in Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi's wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company, Apollo said Monday. SpaceX shares were up 1.5%, while Apollo shares were up 2.5%. Verizon Communications (VZ) reported Q3 adjusted earnings Monday of $1.31 per diluted share, up from $1.21 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $1.27. Total Q3 operating revenue was $34.31 billion, up from $33.82 billion a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $34.77 billion. For full-year 2026, the company expects adjusted EPS of $5.04 to $5.06, up from its previous guidance of $4.99 to $5.04 and above the FactSet consensus of $5.00. Verizon shares were down 2.4%. Price: 894.60, Change: +18.92, Percent Change: +2.16