Anthropic's Revenue Skyrockets to Over $11.5 Billion, a 14-Fold Increase Year-Over-Year

A year ago, Anthropic's quarterly revenue stood at $787 million. By the second quarter of 2026, this figure had surged past $11.5 billion, as reported by Bloomberg, marking an impressive increase of over 14 times in just twelve months. This growth is also substantial compared to the previous quarter, when the creator of Claude recorded $4.73 billion in revenue.

Impressive Financials

While these figures are subject to change, Anthropic is also anticipating its first ever positive quarterly operating result, with an expected operating profit of around $559 million. For a company that invests heavily in computing power, model training, and recruitment, this shift into profitability represents a significant turning point.

In May, the company reported an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $47 billion, a significant jump from approximately $9 billion at the end of 2025.

Wall Street Eyes 2028 Projections

An initial public offering (IPO) appears to be on the horizon, possibly as early as this autumn. Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao is reportedly initiating early discussions with potential investors, according to CNBC. Concurrently, Reuters has revealed that Anthropic is projecting revenues between $190 billion and $200 billion by 2028. This projection is expected to be used by bankers and investors to determine the company's valuation.

This approach is unusual, even for a company experiencing such rapid growth. Cerebras and SpaceX previously set precedents by sharing 2028 and 2029 projections before their own IPOs, but this practice remains rare.

To contextualize the situation, it is beneficial to compare these figures as Wall Street has done. Palantir is currently trading at 53 times its expected 2026 revenue. Cloudflare and SpaceX are valued at approximately 41.6 times their revenue. David Merkel of Aleph Investments has suggested that a valuation of $2 trillion could be feasible.

The Bet on Future Margins

Anthropic incurs substantial expenses related to GPUs, computing infrastructure, and personnel. These costs are essential for its expansion. However, investors are banking on these costs becoming less significant as revenue continues to climb. Model training is expected to become more efficient, and fixed costs should eventually represent a smaller portion of the company's turnover.

The rationale is quite interesting, but it hinges on the assumption of continued strong growth in AI demand. This bet implies that demand for AI will continue to increase significantly over the next two years, and that Anthropic will simultaneously succeed in improving its profit margins.