Anthropic Told Prospective Investors Q3 Revenue Was $16.8 Billion, Attendees Say
Anthropic told prospective IPO investors on Oct. 14 that third-quarter revenue rose 45% to $16.8 billion and that it was profitable on an adjusted basis, according to attendees cited by Reuters; the BBC reported the same revenue figure. The numbers are secondhand and unaudited, and 'adjusted' was not defined.
Attendees came away with a scale-and-profit story, but every number in it is secondhand. Anthropic told prospective investors on Wednesday, October 14 that third-quarter revenue rose 45% from the prior quarter to $16.8 billion, two people who attended its investor day told Reuters. Anthropic also told the group it was profitable on an adjusted basis in the quarter, the people said. The BBC reported the same $16.8 billion figure for the three months to the end of September. Reuters says the Financial Times reported the figure first.
What attendees say Anthropic told them
According to the Reuters attendees, revenue rose to $16.8 billion in the third quarter from $11.6 billion in the second quarter and $4.7 billion in the first. The BBC gives the same Q1 and Q2 figures. In August, we reported Bloomberg's account of investor documents showing preliminary Q2 revenue of more than $11.5 billion; the outlets' Q2 figures differ.
Another attendee told Reuters the company expects a $110 billion annual revenue run rate by the end of the year. That expectation rests on one person's account.
The BBC says Anthropic reportedly told investors it had made a profit for the second quarter in a row. Neither outlet reports a profit figure.
The meeting at Anthropic's San Francisco headquarters was meant to familiarize prospective investors with the company before its IPO, Reuters reports. Attendees met chief executive Dario Amodei and chief financial officer Krishna Rao, and executives discussed using the company's AI in its own business, including to help design a custom chip, according to Reuters.
Listing and spending context
Reuters has reported that the listing is likely to be pushed until after the November US midterm elections; the BBC says it is expected before the end of the year. Reuters says Anthropic is targeting a valuation of more than $2 trillion and has committed at least $518 billion over a decade for cloud services, computing and infrastructure.
An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment to the BBC. Anthropic did not immediately respond to Reuters.
The same Q3 figure was read differently in Seoul the next morning, where a Mirae Asset Securities strategist cited slower quarter-on-quarter growth; we cover that in our market report.
Limits
- All figures come from attendees or people familiar, as relayed by Reuters and the BBC. Anthropic has not published them, and they are unaudited.
- Anthropic's definition of "adjusted" profitability was not reported. Which costs it excludes is unknown, and no profit amount was given.
- The $110 billion run-rate expectation comes from a single attendee.
- Reuters and the BBC put Q2 at $11.6 billion; Bloomberg's August report said more than $11.5 billion. The Financial Times and Bloomberg pages on the Q3 figure could not be opened for this article.
- The 45% growth figure is the outlets'.
Sources
- Reuters via Investing.com: At Anthropic pre-IPO meet: 'Thinking' caps, surging revenue, no human extinction (October 14, 2026)
- BBC News: Anthropic flags revenue surge to investors ahead of stock market debut (October 14, 2026)
- Times of AI: Anthropic's Q2 Print Tops $11.5B (August 14, 2026)
- Times of AI: AI financing rout (October 15, 2026)