Scottish Mortgage Rides Anthropic IPO Optimism While Stepping Up Buybacks Ahead of Private-Asset Vote
30.06.2026 - 14:16:13 | boerse-global.de
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is navigating a turbulent period with two hands: one pushing forward with stock buybacks amid a tech rout, the other banking on a potential windfall from an Anthropic initial public offering. The trust’s shares rose nearly 3% on Tuesday to EUR 16.93, shrugging off broader fears that the OpenAI IPO might be delayed. The catalyst lies in its portfolio – a 2.6% stake in Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI model, which has reportedly filed a confidential IPO prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The trust reinforced its commitment to narrowing the discount to net asset value on 29 June, buying back 1.5 million of its own shares at 1,428.20 pence each. Those shares are now held in treasury, bringing the total held there to roughly 388 million. With about 1.1 billion voting shares still in circulation, the move is designed to provide liquidity and signal that management sees recent weakness as temporary. The buyback came as the wider technology sector haemorrhaged value: the Magnificent Seven stocks have collectively lost around $2.3 trillion in market capitalisation, with Microsoft trading about 35% below its all-time high amid growing scepticism over massive AI infrastructure spending.
A key private holding, SpaceX, has not been immune to the downturn. The rocket company has shed more than 30% from its June highs. Investor Jeremy Grantham of GMO has voiced doubts about whether SpaceX can deliver on its long-term promises, pointing to substantial cumulative losses. Yet on 29 June, SpaceX shares briefly jumped 4.5% to $161, likely on expectations that the stock will be added to the Nasdaq-100 index in early July. Index-tracking ETFs would be forced buyers, potentially providing a short-term tailwind.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Scottish Mortgage Investment?
The contrasting fortunes of Anthropic and SpaceX highlight the balancing act Scottish Mortgage faces with its unlisted holdings. As of the end of April, non-listed companies – including heavyweights like SpaceX and ByteDance – accounted for around 40% of total assets. That concentration will be a focus of critical shareholder meetings in July, where investors will vote on a proposed ceiling for private investments. The normal limit is 30%, and any change could reshape the trust’s risk profile. Also on the agenda is the dividend strategy; Scottish Mortgage has raised its payout for 43 consecutive years. Management continues to reserve share buybacks for periods when the discount to NAV widens significantly.
Chartwise, the stock sits just below EUR 17, with the relative strength index showing no extremes and volatility running at nearly 38%. The active capital management – including the 29 June buyback – suggests the board views the current tech headwinds as a valuation vacuum rather than a structural break. The next major test comes in July, when quarterly earnings from big technology names will reveal whether the billions poured into AI are beginning to translate into tangible returns. For a trust whose NAV is directly tied to those outcomes, the results could determine the next leg for both its quoted shares and its private-market bets.
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