FRI, OCTOBER 23, 2026
Independent · In‑Depth · Practitioner‑Tested
Claude Finance

IPO Prospectus Analysis Prompts

Six prompts for reading an S-1 the way an analyst does rather than the way a headline does. Built while reading the Anthropic draft prospectus, where a reported 80.7 billion dollar loss turned out to be mostly non-cash charges. Paste a filing and work through these in order.

⌨️ 6 prompts 🕐 Updated Oct 23, 2026
💡 How to use these prompts: Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your specific details before sending. Click Copy to copy any prompt to your clipboard instantly.
1
Separate the real loss from the accounting
Avoid being misled by a headline loss number
Read the income statement in this filing. List every non-cash item included in the net loss, with the amount for each. Then restate the loss excluding those items and show your arithmetic. Tell me which figure a competitor would use and which an investor should use.
2
Find the concentration risk
Assess dependency before signing a vendor contract
Search this filing for customer concentration, supplier concentration and geographic concentration. For each one you find, quote the exact sentence and then tell me in plain language what happens to this business if that counterparty leaves.
3
Read the risk factors for what is new
Find the disclosures that actually mean something
Most risk factors are boilerplate. Go through the risk factors section and separate them into two lists: standard language that appears in most filings in this sector, and disclosures that are unusual or specific to this company. For the second list, explain why each one was included.
4
Map the obligations
Understand what the company must earn to survive
List every future payment obligation disclosed in this filing: leases, cloud commitments, purchase commitments, debt. For each, give the amount, the time period and whether it is cancelable. Then total the non-cancelable obligations and compare that total to the last twelve months of revenue.
5
Check the growth quality
Distinguish growth from bought growth
Compare revenue growth to the growth in cost of revenue and in sales and marketing spend over the periods shown. Tell me whether the growth is getting more or less efficient, and quote the numbers you used.
6
Write the sceptic case
Stress-test a company before depending on it
You are a short seller who has read only this filing. Write the strongest honest bear case using only facts disclosed in the document. Cite the page or section for each point. Do not invent anything.