Investors are pushing back on sky-high AI valuations, and stock sales are getting harder

Investors are asking tougher questions about the premium valuations attached to AI and AI-adjacent companies, according to a Bloomberg report published October 19, 2026. That skepticism is making it harder for these companies to sell stock, whether through IPOs or secondary sales. The deals that changed the mood Firmus, an AI data center company, saw its IPO collapse within 48 hours in mid-October 2026 after failing to attract enough investor interest. Next up for scrutiny is Nscale Ltd., which is pursuing a valuation of roughly $30 billion for its upcoming IPO. Investors are pushing back, with estimates suggesting a more realistic range of $16 billion to $19 billion. The giants are not immune OpenAI’s valuation has fluctuated between more than $500 billion and $852 billion, based on employee share sales. Anthropic, meanwhile, has eyed a potential IPO at roughly $2 trillion. Both companies now face downward adjustments to those figures, as investors weigh them against revenue trajectories and profitability metrics. A sector-wide reassessment Semiconductors, hyperscalers, and software names have all experienced sell-offs. The concern driving those declines is a mismatch between heav...