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Private companies often keep their listing plans vague for as long as possible.

OpenAI just did the opposite inside its own walls.

At an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told employees the company will be public in 2027, and possibly sooner, if growth holds.

It was the first time staff heard a concrete time window from the company’s leadership.

OpenAI filed confidentially for an initial public offering earlier this year, and Wall Street is already treating it as one of the most anticipated listings in tech history.

For anyone hoping to buy the stock one day, the date is only part of the picture. The numbers Friar shared, and the ones leaked around the meeting, say more about the risk.

What OpenAI’s CFO told employees about a 2027 IPO

Sarah Friar was direct with staff about the plan.

She said OpenAI “will be a public company in 2027” and could debut earlier if the business keeps accelerating, CNBC reported.

She framed the listing as one step among many, telling employees the IPO is a milestone rather than a finish line.

The timing of the message is also important.

OpenAI confidentially filed its IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, and the company has not publicly disclosed its full plans since.

Friar told staff there is a chance that filing could become public within weeks.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told employees the company plans to be public in 2027, or earlier, if growth accelerates.CFOTO / Getty Images

Why Sarah Friar addressed the OpenAI IPO now

The meeting followed the departure of three senior executives in one week. Friar used the IPO timeline to reassure staff whose pay includes company equity.

A public listing gives employees a way to convert that equity into cash. That path matters most right after leadership turnover, when employees start asking what their shares are actually worth.

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She also told employees not to worry about rival Anthropic, saying, “We are running our own race.”

There was a reason for that comment. Anthropic filed its own confidential prospectus in June and could list as early as September, which would put a direct competitor on the public market first.

Friar’s point to staff was that the order of listing does not decide the outcome.

What a 2027 listing means for investors who want to buy OpenAI stock

You cannot buy OpenAI shares on a public exchange today. 

A 2027 date, with a possible earlier debut, is not a locked-in commitment. OpenAI still has to file publicly, clear SEC review, and set final pricing before shares trade.

Two numbers matter most for deciding whether to buy in when that happens: how fast revenue is growing, and how much money the company is losing to get there.

The growth case:

OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate passed $40 billion in July 2026.

Its overall revenue run rate was up 35% so far in the third quarter, with enterprise up 50%.

Its AI coding and work tools reached 20 million weekly active users.

The risk case:

Second-quarter revenue was $6.7 billion, up 18% quarter over quarter.

Operating losses widened from $9.3 billion in the first quarter to $12.3 billion in the second, driven by data center and computing costs.

Rival Anthropic posted $11.5 billion in second-quarter revenue, a 14-times jump from a year earlier, Benzinga reported.

That means OpenAI is growing fast while spending more than it earns, and a close competitor is currently posting larger quarterly sales.

How OpenAI’s structure changed to allow a public listing

OpenAI could not go public in its original form. The company started as a nonprofit, which blocked the standard path to an IPO. 

It was restructured in October 2025 to fix that, CNBC reported.

Under the new setup:

The nonprofit, now called the OpenAI Foundation, holds a 26% stake in the for-profit business, OpenAI Group PBC.

Microsoft (MSFT) holds roughly 27%.

Current and former employees and investors hold the remaining 47%.

The change removed an earlier cap on investor returns, which matters because a public shareholder needs the freedom to profit without a built-in ceiling.

It also converted employee stakes into standard stock, the same kind public investors would eventually buy.

What secondary-market holders should watch before the OpenAI IPO

Some investors already hold indirect exposure to OpenAI. They own it through private secondary platforms such as Forge Global or Hiive, or through venture funds that bought in during earlier rounds.

For them, Friar’s comment sets a rough conversion horizon. A listing in late 2026 to mid-2027 is the window when private shares could turn into stock they can sell.

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That window comes with a catch.

Private valuations have swung sharply on executive exits and on Anthropic’s revenue growth. OpenAI’s widening losses could also cap gains in secondary trading until the company posts a quarter where losses shrink instead of grow.

OpenAI completed the largest private funding round on record in March 2026, raising $122 billion at a valuation of $852 billion, OpenAI confirmed.

Reports suggest the company is structuring itself to target a $1 trillion valuation at listing, according to The New York Times, though OpenAI has not confirmed a figure.

What still has to happen before OpenAI’s debut

A date is not a done deal.

Several things still need to fall into place before OpenAI lists, and each one gives investors something concrete to track.

OpenAI must make its confidential filing public, which starts the formal countdown to a listing.

It has to show progress on narrowing its operating losses, so investors can judge whether spending is under control.

It needs to keep enterprise growth on its current path, since that is the revenue line Friar highlighted to staff.

It must clear the standard SEC review that every issuer goes through before trading begins.

Until those steps happen, the 2027 window stays a target rather than a commitment.

The bottom line for OpenAI IPO investors

Friar gave employees a timeframe, and that timeframe now also belongs to the market.

OpenAI plans to be public by 2027, sooner if growth stays strong, and its confidential filing could go public within weeks.

The company has one of the strongest growth stories in technology, with a $40 billion revenue run rate and 20 million weekly users on its work tools. It also carries a $12.3 billion quarterly operating loss and a rival that just beat it on quarterly revenue.

For investors, watch for the public filing, read the S-1 when it lands, and decide whether OpenAI’s growth is worth its cash burn before you commit any money.

For secondary holders, the timeline gives you a clearer exit window. Valuations may keep swinging until OpenAI posts a quarter where losses shrink instead of grow.

The timeline is set, but the decision is still yours to make.

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Being a company’s only chip partner feels secure, until that company starts talking to competitors.

In the high-stakes economy of artificial intelligence, where data center buildouts run into the tens of billions of dollars, cloud giants can no longer afford to tie their infrastructure to a single hardware lifeline.

Broadcom (AVGO) found that out this week, after Marvell Technology (MRVL) disclosed an expanded custom AI chip partnership with Google (GOOGL) in a securities filing on Aug. 19.

Marvell’s stock jumped. Broadcom’s stock fell on the same headline.

One news event, two stock reactions

Marvell shares closed up nearly 10% at $237.27 on Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to CNBC. Broadcom shares fell about 5% the same day, as investors questioned whether Google was quietly diversifying away from its longtime custom-chip partner, CNBC reported.

Alphabet’s own stock barely moved.

The filing described a wide-ranging agreement. Marvell said it would build AI inference accelerators, storage controllers, network interface controllers, memory interface controllers and near-memory compute for Google’s tensor processing unit ecosystem, according to the filing. That covers nearly every layer of the custom chip stack, not a single component.

Marvell’s stock closed up nearly 10% after expanding its custom AI chip partnership with Google, while Broadcom fell about 5% the same session.JHVEPhoto / Getty Images

How the Google-Marvell warrant works

To help finalize the deal, Marvell issued Google a warrant to buy up to 58.97 million shares at $206.58 each, a stake worth about $12.2 billion if fully exercised, Reuters reported.

If Google hits every purchasing target attached to that warrant, the agreement could generate roughly $120 billion in cumulative Marvell revenue through fiscal 2033, according to Reuters.

Related: Top financial expert declares Marvell ‘no longer a marvelous buy’

That structure matters more than the dollar figure. A conventional supply contract gives a customer a discount.

Google’s Marvell warrant gives Google equity upside that grows every time it buys more chips, aligning its financial interest with Marvell’s success rather than just its price list.

Broadcom retains Google, loses monopoly

Broadcom is not losing Google as a customer. The two companies signed a separate long-term deal in April to develop and supply future generations of custom AI chips through 2031, Seeking Alpha reported at the time.

What changed is the assumption underneath Broadcom’s valuation, that Google’s custom silicon budget belonged mostly to one supplier.

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Marvell now has a design relationship inside all three major U.S. hyperscalers. It already builds custom silicon for Amazon’s Trainium chips and Microsoft’s Maia accelerators, and Google was the missing name on that list.

Wedbush Securities analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a note to clients that companies with custom silicon capabilities are now “in an advantageous position” in the AI buildout.

He added that Marvell’s win does not necessarily make Broadcom or Nvidia losers, since the custom chip market looks large enough to support several winners instead of one.

Single-supplier deals are ending

The pattern here extends past these two stocks. Every major hyperscaler now works with more than one company capable of building its chips, which means no supplier can assume a head start is permanent.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all spread their custom silicon work across multiple partners instead of concentrating it with one.

That shift rewards suppliers with broad customer bases over suppliers with deep, single-customer ones. Broadcom built its AI premium on being the trusted incumbent at Google.

Marvell just showed that incumbency now has an expiration date, and the market repriced both stocks accordingly within a single trading session.

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Let me tell you something about selling a position you’ve held for some time. It’s some strange feeling, trust me. I’ve been there. 

Not necessarily in the markets. Maybe it’s a house you once thought you’d never leave. Or maybe it’s an old car that carried you through thousands of miles and gave you golden memories.

The longer you’ve owned it, the harder it becomes to let go. Especially when you still believe in what you’re selling.Warren Buffett built one of the most famous positions in American banking over more than a decade.

His stake in Bank of America (BAC) became a signature holding, a bet on the recovery of American finance and the durability of consumer banking through multiple cycles. Now, the latest 13F filing from Berkshire Hathaway shows that the position is shrinking.

Berkshire sold approximately 30.2 million shares of Bank of America during Q2 2026, for an estimated $1.6 billion, according to its 13F filing. 

The sale includes the closure of one position worth approximately $1.377 billion, plus a partial trim of an additional 1.99 million shares.

Currently, BAC remains the fifth-largest holding in Berkshire’s portfolio at approximately 9.20%, according to GuruFocus data. Trading at $62.95 and up 15.69% year to date, BAC has slightly outpaced the S&P 500 in 2026, even as Berkshire reduces exposure.

Also Read: Bank of America Corporation Latest News and Stories

The Greg Abel portfolio consolidation is happening faster than expected

The Bank of America sale isn’t the only one. There has been a broader portfolio restructuring that began when Greg Abel took over as Berkshire CEO at the start of 2026, succeeding Warren Buffett.

A combined Morningstar analysis of the filing noted that Berkshire eliminated holdings previously ascribed to former portfolio managers Todd Combs, who left at year-end, and Ted Weschler. 

The firm sold stakes in Lennar Class A for an estimated $830 million, Capital One for $795 million, and Kroger for $700 million in the same quarter.

At the same time, the major purchases reveal where Abel and Buffett are directing capital. Berkshire bought an estimated $7.9 billion in Alphabet Class A and $7.6 billion in Alphabet Class C during Q2, plus $1.4 billion in Delta Air Lines and $1.1 billion in Lennar Class B. 

Related: Buffett’s Berkshire is doubling down on Google

The Alphabet position, now sitting at approximately 9.41% of the portfolio, according to GuruFocus, is one of the clearest signals that the post-Buffett Berkshire is comfortable with large technology positions in a way the prior era was not.

Berkshire’s Q2 13F included $299.25 billion in managed 13F securities, with a top-10 holdings concentration of 88.47%, according to WhaleWisdom data. Apple remains the largest position at 22.04%.

Why Berkshire might be trimming BAC

The counterintuitive element of this filing is that Bank of America is performing extremely well operationally. BAC’s Q2 2026 results, reported for the quarter ended June 30, were genuinely impressive across most metrics.

Net income of $9.1 billion grew 27% year over year (YoY).

Diluted EPS of $1.21 grew 34% YoY. 

Total revenue of $31.6 billion grew 15% YoY. 

Net interest income reached $16.0 billion, up 9%. 

The efficiency ratio improved 359 basis points year over year to 59%. 

Return on tangible common equity reached 17.0%. 

Average deposits of $2.02 trillion represented the 12th consecutive quarter of sequential growth. 

Returned $8.0 billion to shareholders in Q2 through dividends and buybacks.

I see these numbers as impressive. Currently, BAC trades at 14.83 times trailing earnings and 13.89 times forward earnings, with a price-to-book ratio of 1.63, according to Yahoo Finance. 

Also, those are not expensive valuations for a bank generating 17% returns on tangible equity and growing earnings at 27% year over year.

Related: Buffett’s Berkshire increases exposure to blue-chip housing stock

My read of the Berkshire sale is therefore not a statement about Bank of America’s business quality. It appears to be about portfolio rebalancing and capital redeployment. 

It’s clear that the $7.9 billion Alphabet purchase in the same quarter is more than five times the $1.5 billion BAC reduction. Berkshire is funding a larger conviction position, having nothing to do with disliking BAC.

Bank of America trades at 14.83 times trailing earnings and 13.89 times forward earnings, with a price-to-book ratio of 1.63.Bloomberg via Getty Images

What the filing reveals about the new Berkshire and what you should watch

The Q2 13F offers the clearest picture yet of what a Greg Abel-led Berkshire looks like in practice. 

The firm now has fewer, larger, and more concentrated positions with a willingness to sell legacy holdings built over decades when more attractive uses of capital emerge.

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BAC at 9.20% of the portfolio remains a substantial holding. Berkshire still owns 308.8 million shares after the Q2 sales, representing one of the largest single institutional shareholdings in Bank of America’s history. So, the reduction from a peak position is meaningful but not an exit.

For BAC investors watching the filing, the relevant takeaway is nuanced. Buffett and Abel are reducing a position in a bank generating 27% earnings growth, 17% ROTE, and record deposit growth not because the bank is struggling, but because capital is being redirected toward Alphabet’s AI-driven advertising and search business at scale. 

That has everything to do with relative opportunity rather than absolute quality.

BAC remains a straightforward income and value investment. The Berkshire reduction is worth noting, but the business underneath the filing continues to compound at a rate that justifies continued growth.

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