Anthropic Reports 14-Fold Revenue Growth Ahead of Potential IPO
Bloomberg News reports that Anthropic told prospective investors its second-quarter revenue was at least 14 times higher than a year earlier, with a preliminary figure above $1 billion and positive adjusted operating income adding to the case ahead of a possible IPO. Bloomberg’s Rachel Metz says the figures point to growing business and consumer demand for Claude, but cautions that Anthropic’s reported run rate is not directly comparable with OpenAI’s because the companies calculate recurring revenue differently.
Anthropic is putting a more developed financial case in front of investors
Rachel Metz says documents shown to prospective investors indicate that Anthropic’s second-quarter revenue was at least 14 times higher than in the same period a year earlier. The increase, she says, suggests the company’s efforts to sell AI services are gaining traction with businesses, while consumers are also buying access to its Claude chatbot.
A Bloomberg News graphic describes Anthropic’s preliminary revenue figure as more than $1 billion. It also says second-quarter 2024 revenue rose at least 14-fold year over year and that Anthropic is meeting with investors ahead of a potential “mega-IPO.”
Metz separately says that Anthropic’s annualized revenue, or run rate, crossed $400 million in May. The source does not explain how that May run-rate measure relates to the graphic’s preliminary $1 billion-plus revenue figure, which appears to be presented on a different basis. They should not therefore be read as directly comparable measures or as parts of a single cumulative total.
Ed Ludlow points to another reported figure: positive adjusted operating income. In his framing, it reassures investors that losses will not be “infinite and forever.” Alongside the reported revenue growth, it gives prospective investors a more current picture of Anthropic’s commercial progress and operating economics, without settling the question of when it might go public.
It looks like each company is showing investors and potential investors better information than it could have just a month or two ago.
OpenAI’s larger run rate is not a clean comparison
The reported figures invite a simple comparison: Metz says OpenAI has an annual run rate above $40 billion, while Anthropic’s annualized revenue crossed $400 million in May. But she cautions that those figures do not support a straightforward ranking because the companies calculate annual recurring revenue differently.
Rachel Metz says the companies’ disclosures should be assessed individually rather than treated as an apples-to-apples league table. The relevant common signal, in her account, is that each is presenting investors and potential investors with more favorable, more recent information than it could have offered a month or two earlier.
If we look at them individually and don't try to compare them to each other, because as I said, with ARR at least they're calculating them in different ways, so it's certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison.
Ludlow raises the prospect that Anthropic and OpenAI could pursue public offerings this year or next. Metz says the timing remains difficult to predict. Better revenue reporting may be a positive sign for an IPO, she says, but she does not present it as evidence of a specific timetable.
Metz expects a sharper focus on coding, science, and work
As the companies move closer to a potential IPO, Metz says they have become more focused on particular parts of their businesses. She describes the pattern as one that has unfolded over roughly the past six months, rather than as a settled shift in either company’s strategy.
For OpenAI, she expects the cadence of releases to continue, but says the company has recently released a less expansive array of products. It will continue to focus on consumer and enterprise businesses, which she characterizes as both important to the company.
Rachel Metz expects Anthropic to produce more work on coding and probably science. Those areas may matter at both Anthropic and OpenAI, she says. She also anticipates other work-related applications for the chatbots that the companies hope to sell—uses that have received less attention so far.
We’re going to see a lot of that sort of stuff happening, this sort of coding, perhaps science and maybe some other sort of work-related applications.
That expectation is consistent with Metz’s earlier description of Anthropic’s existing customer base: the company is selling services to businesses as well as consumers. But her forecast remains qualified. Coding, science, and other workplace uses are areas she expects the companies to emphasize more, not a confirmed account of their next revenue mix.