Anthropic tells investors quarterly revenue up nearly 50% to $16.8bn ahead of IPO

AI introduction

During IPO preparations, Anthropic met investors on Wednesday and, per the FT, disclosed quarterly revenue of about $4.8bn (Q1), $11.5bn (Q2) and $16.8bn (Q3), up nearly 50% quarter over quarter. In Q3 every $1 of compute spend generated $1.70 in revenue, adjusted operating margin excluding stock-based compensation was 11%, and distillation accounted for 5–7% of revenue, sharply cut in Q3; the author estimates that in Q2 other labs spent over $500m distilling Anthropic models.

Why it matters

The article compiles key figures Anthropic disclosed to investors — revenue, margins and distillation share — offering insight into its business ahead of the IPO.

Article · English

15th October 2026 - Link Blog

Anthropic tells investors quarterly revenue up nearly 50% to $16.8bn ahead of IPO. The phrase "told investors" appears four times in this FT article, which reports on Anthropic's day of hosting investors on Wednesday. Lots of details in here from "people with knowledge of the matter".

Key things I learned from the article:

Q1 revenue (Jan/Feb/Mar) was "about $4.8bn"
Q2 (Apr/May/Jun) was $11.5bn
Q3 (Jul/Aug/Sep) was $16.8bn
In Q3: $1.70 in revenue for every $1 spent on "computing power"
Adjusted operating margins (excluding stock-based compensation) were 11%

This point about distillation is worth quoting in full (highlight mine):

The start-up has also clamped down on “distillation” — a controversial practice whereby rival AI labs train their models on the outputs of more advanced ones.

When rival companies “distil” their models from Anthropic’s models, that involves heavy usage and spending.

Anthropic told investors on Wednesday distillation accounted for 5 per cent to 7 per cent of revenue and that they had cut it back “materially” in the third quarter of the year, said four people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Napkin maths says that if distillation was 5% of their Q2 revenue (before they cut it back in Q3) then unnamed "other labs" spent over half a billion dollars distilling Anthropic's models in that quarter!

Source: Simon Willison · simonwillison.net