Anthropic Cuts Operating Loss to $1.3 Billion in Nine Months
Key Facts
Anthropic cut its operating loss to $1.3 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2026, from $5.2 billion in the same period of 2025, according to its amended filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The improvement puts the period’s operating performance at the center of the company’s updated disclosure tied to its anticipated public offering. But the trajectory was not steadily upward during the period: the company returned to an operating loss in the September quarter after posting operating income in the June quarter. Quarterly revenue was $17 billion in the September quarter, according to the Associated Press. The company also posted a quarterly net loss of $23.3 billion, underscoring the difference between its net results and its operating measure.
For the nine months, adjusted operating income was $4.1 billion, compared with an adjusted operating loss of $3.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2025, according to the filing. This adjusted measure presents a different picture from the reported operating loss, as spending on running models and expanding computing capacity remained high. Computing and infrastructure expenses rose 329% to $18.808 billion, from $4.381 billion a year earlier. Still, those expenses fell to 57% of revenue from 172% in the corresponding period. The comparison reflects revenue growth at a pace that helped reduce the relative burden of these expenses, even as their absolute value increased.
Anthropic said successive model and product releases drove usage, expansion and adoption of its offerings, which it credited with revenue growth. Revenue was $17 billion in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, compared with $1.4 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Model releases during the six months ended September also contributed more than 80% of that quarter’s revenue, the company said. Expansion extended to customers with high spending: the number of customers generating at least $100,000 in revenue on a trailing twelve-month basis exceeded 11,900 as of September 30, 2026, compared with more than 950 a year earlier. Revenue from this group was $24.5 billion in the nine months through September, versus $1.9 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
Company data show revenue broadening beyond its largest customers, with about 79% of September-quarter revenue coming from customers outside its top five, up from about 64% in the quarter ended March 2026. On an annual basis, revenue was $4.585 billion in 2025, up 1,088% from $386 million in 2024, according to the filing. The cost of securing computing capacity, meanwhile, remains a factor in quarterly profitability. The company said its operating loss in the September quarter was $567 million, compared with operating income of $974 million in the June quarter. It attributed the shift mainly to $5 billion in computing under short-term commitments, which is more expensive than computing purchased under multiyear contracts, and $2 billion in non-cash expenses related to its donation-matching program.
The net loss of $104 billion for the nine months through September includes an accounting item of $94 billion related to financing agreements, according to the Associated Press. The loss therefore differs from the $1.3 billion operating loss because it includes a large accounting impact related to financing. On future commitments, the value of purchase and lease agreements was about $895.4 billion as of September 30, 2026 and beyond, most of it tied to computing and infrastructure, according to the amended filing. Of that total, about $69.8 billion is due in the twelve months following September 30, 2026. The scale of these commitments puts the execution of future computing-capacity plans alongside sales growth at the center of the company’s financial picture.
Management warned that the operating margin and adjusted operating margin may fluctuate over time, particularly when the company takes on significant additional computing capacity and incurs the related expenses. The Associated Press reported that the update came about a week after Anthropic filed its original offering prospectus, as it prepared for an anticipated Wall Street debut. In a separate report, Reuters cited two people familiar with the matter as saying the company expects revenue of between $190 billion and $200 billion in 2028, compared with an annualized revenue rate of $47 billion it announced in May 2026. Those figures remain forward-looking projections attributed to Reuters sources, while the nine-month results show revenue growth alongside an annual improvement in the operating loss. Commitments due in the twelve months after the end of September amount to about $69.8 billion.