Key Points
- Anthropic Quarterly revenue soars 45% to $16.8 billion
- A potential $2 trillion IPO implies an extremely high valuation premium.
- Slowing growth has raised doubts about the profitability of AI among outsiders.
The artificial intelligence company Anthropic, which develops Claude, achieved revenue of $16.8 billion in the third quarter, a 45% increase from the previous quarter. The company is preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO), which could be valued at over $2 trillion.
These data were disclosed during an investor presentation held in San Francisco on October 14th, showing that the Anthropic business has once again experienced astonishing accelerated growth. However, compared to earlier in 2026, the company's growth rate has significantly slowed down, which raises a question: will investors support such aggressive valuations?
Anthropic Revenues reached $16.8 billion, but the growth rate has slowed down
Anthropic reports that revenue in the first quarter of 2026 was $4.7 billion, $11.6 billion in the second quarter, and $16.8 billion in the third quarter.
This means that its quarterly revenue increased by approximately 147% between the first quarter and the second quarter, while the growth rate between the second quarter and the third quarter was 45%.
Reuters compiled the above data based on the investor presentation from Anthropic on October 14th. The annualized data is obtained by simply multiplying the quarterly revenue by four.
Coinpaper previously reported on the computing costs of Anthropic, stating that its infrastructure expenditures in 2025 exceeded its annual revenue.
Anthropic can it support a valuation of $2 trillion for IPO?
Anthropic is preparing to enter the stock market as soon as possible in November, but there are still uncertainties regarding the final issue price, timing, and valuation.
If this comes to fruition, it will propel Anthropic to join the ranks of the world's highest-valued listed companies, despite the company's relatively limited operating history compared to mature technology giants.
This proposed valuation is also significantly higher than its previous round of private financing valuation. The IPO plan for Anthropic follows closely after the round of financing in May, when the company's valuation was approximately $965 billion.
Therefore, the potential IPO pricing implies that its private market valuation could more than double within a few months.
AI Infrastructure costs remain a major challenge
While Anthropic has seen revenue growth, it has also been accompanied by significant financial commitments to cloud computing, AI chips, and data center infrastructure.
It is reported that its IPO document lists commitments for future infrastructure spending of over $500 billion; at the same time, a proposed Broadcom financing arrangement may provide up to $42 billion in funding for its dedicated AI computing power.
The company's adjusted profitability improved in the third quarter, but this does not prove that it has achieved profitability under standard accounting criteria.
At the same time, financing concerns are spreading to a broader range of AI industries. CoreWeave has recently faced a sell-off in the bond market, with yields approaching 15%, as investors begin to question the economic viability of relying on debt-driven AI expansion.
The author, Ethan Mercer, is a financial journalist who covers cryptocurrency, stocks, and the global economy. He studied economics and finance before turning to market reporting, with a particular focus on Bitcoin, stocks, monetary policy, and investor sentiment. His work focuses on explaining daily market fluctuations and the broader trends behind them.
