Anthropic expects a second straight quarter of adjusted operating profit

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic Credit: Anthropic Anthropic has told shareholders it expects positive adjusted operating income for a second straight quarter, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing several people with knowledge of the matter. CNBC reported the same on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The FT also reported that Anthropic’s gross margins are above 80%. That figure comes before the revenue Anthropic shares with distribution partners, including Amazon, and before the cost of training its models.

What the figures leave out Both numbers are measured before some large costs. The adjusted profit measure strips out certain costs, which Bloomberg described as exceptional or one-time items. The margin figure excludes both model training and payments to partners. Anthropic has not published full accounts.

It filed its IPO prospectus confidentially in June, and must make its financials public at least 15 days before its investor roadshow begins, Business Insider reported. The current quarter would follow a strong second quarter. Last month, Anthropic’s quarterly revenue passed $11.5bn with positive adjusted operating income. Its annualised revenue reached $65bn in July, about seven times the level of a year earlier, according to CNBC.

The IPO is still on track Anthropic has chosen Nasdaq for a listing widely expected as soon as October. It aims to match or beat SpaceX’s record $86.3bn offering, Bloomberg reported. It is also finalising a $15bn revolving credit facility, according to Bloomberg. The profit news arrived during a week of AI safety warnings.

On Saturday, chief executive Dario Amodei called on the industry to slow down. OpenAI’s Sam Altman agreed and said his company would not go public this year. Anthropic is still likely to list in 2026, multiple sources told Axios’s Dan Primack. He also noted a “cynical argument” that slowing development could cut Anthropic’s compute spending and improve its financials.

What investors and analysts say Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, which has invested in Anthropic, called its growth rate “off the charts”. “Don’t see why growth would slow or any other reason to wait,” he told CNBC. Others are sceptical of the slowdown plan. Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, told CNBC he is “highly suspicious” of what Anthropic and OpenAI are doing. “It feels more and more like a ladder pull,” he said.

Gartner analyst Arun Chandrasekaran told CNBC that stricter safety standards could favour the two labs if smaller rivals cannot afford the costs. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management expects little to change. “AI’s long-term opportunity is too big for them to slow down,” he told CNBC.

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