Anthropic Reports $16.8 Billion Q3 Revenue and Adjusted Profitability Ahead of IPO

Anthropic told a group of prospective investors on 14 October that third-quarter revenue reached $16.8 billion, a 45 per cent increase from $11.6 billion in the second quarter, according to people who attended the meeting at the company’s San Francisco headquarters. The firm also said it was profitable on an adjusted basis for the quarter and generated positive free cash flow, with an adjusted gross margin of 85 per cent and an adjusted operating margin above 11 per cent.

The figures were shared ahead of a planned initial public offering that bankers expect could value the company at more than $2 trillion. Anthropic has not yet filed a public registration statement, but reporting indicates formal marketing of the offering could begin the week of 9 November, with trading possible before the US Thanksgiving holiday. The company is aiming for a debut no later than the end of 2026 and has indicated it expects the offering to match or exceed the size of SpaceX’s earlier listing.

Attendees met with chief executive Dario Amodei and chief financial officer Krishna Rao. Some left the session optimistic about the pace of revenue growth and the path to reported profitability. Anthropic also discussed internal use of its models, including work on a custom chip. The company distributed hats to attendees, some of which read “thinking.”

The third-quarter number continues a steep trajectory. Revenue was approximately $4.7 billion in the first quarter and $11.6 billion in the second. Analysts who met company executives earlier estimated that the annualised run rate could approach $110 billion by year-end. In 2025 the company recorded roughly $4.6 billion in full-year revenue while posting large operating losses driven by compute costs.

Anthropic’s expected valuation would represent roughly 30 times the current run-rate revenue. The company has raised substantial private capital this year and has signed large multi-year compute commitments. Investors have been watching whether the rapid top-line growth can translate into sustainable margins once public-market scrutiny begins. The IPO, if completed on the indicated timetable, would be one of the largest technology listings on record and an early public-market test of investor appetite for leading artificial-intelligence developers.

No official prospectus has been released. The numbers cited by attendees remain subject to the formal filing and to any subsequent adjustments for accounting treatment of compute contracts and stock-based compensation. Anthropic has not commented publicly on the investor-day figures.