Company holds investor roadshow ahead of November listing

Targets $2 trillion valuation at IPO

The Anthropic logo. [Reuters]
The Anthropic logo. [Reuters]

Anthropic, the US AI company preparing for an initial public offering, saw its third-quarter sales surge 45 percent quarter-on-quarter, while also posting a second consecutive quarter of adjusted operating profit — signaling both rapid growth and improving profitability ahead of its listing.

According to Reuters, Anthropic disclosed the figures at a pre-IPO investor briefing held at its San Francisco headquarters Wednesday (local time), citing sources including investors who attended the event. Third-quarter sales came in at $16.8 billion.

The results extend a sharp upward trajectory: sales jumped from $4.7 billion in the first quarter to $11.6 billion in the second, and climbed a further 45 percent in the third — more than tripling from the first-quarter level.

Anthropic told investors it achieved an adjusted operating profit in the third quarter, following a profitable second quarter, underscoring that it is improving profitability despite the enormous costs of developing and running AI systems.

The contrast with last year is stark. Anthropic recorded $4.6 billion in annual sales in 2025 but posted an operating loss of $8 billion. This year's explosive revenue growth has sharply accelerated the company's financial turnaround.

The financial disclosure is widely seen as an effort to showcase Anthropic's growth momentum to investors ahead of a listing it is targeting for next month.

Armed with the improved financials, the company aims to secure a valuation of more than $2 trillion at listing, with plans to use the IPO proceeds to fund the astronomical costs of building and operating its AI systems.

Anthropic had originally planned to list in October, but the timeline has slipped, with a post-midterm listing in November now appearing more likely. Rival OpenAI had also been pursuing a listing this year but pushed its timeline to next year, citing concerns over AI safety controversies and valuation considerations.

Anthropic did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on the earnings disclosure.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com