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Anthropic’s IPO: Three numbers investors should know

Quick Takes | October 28, 2026
STRATEGY Leveraged & Inverse
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Leveraged & Inverse
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Simeon Hyman, CFA, Global Investment Strategist

Key Takeaways
  • Anthropic filed its S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), moving a step closer to what could be one of the largest-ever initial public offerings (IPOs).
  • The developer of Claude reported $16.3 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026, up from $1.2 billion in the prior-year period.1
  • The second quarter saw $974 million in operating income—a substantial turnaround from the $1.7 billion operating loss reported in the first quarter.
  • Anthropic’s revenue is still highly concentrated among a small number of customers, but the revenue mix is beginning to broaden.
  • Pending Anthropic’s IPO, ProShares plans to offer ANTY and ANTU, leveraged and inverse ETFs designed to target 2x and -2x the daily performance of Anthropic’s stock.

The registration statements for ANTU and ANTY have been filed with the SEC but are not yet effective and may be changed. Shares may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, until each registration statement is effective.

These ProShares ETFs seek daily investment results that correspond, before fees and expenses, to two times (2x) the daily performance of a single stock for ANTU, or negative two times (-2x) for ANTY (each, the “Daily Target”). While each Fund has a daily investment objective, you may hold Fund shares for longer than one day if you believe it is consistent with your goals and risk tolerance. For any holding period other than a day, your return may be higher or lower than the Daily Target. These differences may be significant. Smaller index gains/losses and higher index volatility contribute to returns worse than the Daily Target. Larger index gains/losses and lower index volatility contribute to returns better than the Daily Target. The more extreme these factors are, the more they occur together, and the longer your holding period while these factors apply, the more your return will tend to deviate. Investors should consider periodically monitoring their geared fund investments in light of their goals and risk tolerance.

Anthropic’s financials are coming into clearer focus after Monday’s S-1 filing, giving investors a detailed look at the frontier artificial intelligence (AI) firm as it moves toward an IPO. The filing shows a company that has grown at extraordinary speed while committing extraordinary sums to the computing capacity needed to build and run its AI models.

Here’s a look at key numbers from Anthropic’s latest filing…

$16.3 billion: Anthropic's revenue has risen

Anthropic reported $16.3 billion in revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2026, compared with $1.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.1 That is nearly 14 times the prior-year level and more than three times the approximately $4.6 billion of revenue generated for all of 2025.

New revenue figures reported in the S-1 replace earlier run-rate estimates. Investors can now evaluate actual reported growth, rather than an annualized snapshot that may not capture seasonality or changes in usage.

Anthropic's Quarterly Revenue Has Accelerated Sharply

Anthropic's IPO is coming__Anthropic's Quarterly Revenue.pngSource: Anthropic, PBC, Form S-1, filed 10/26/26.
79%: Anthropic's customer base has broadened

Revenue from outside of Anthropic’s top five customers increased from approximately 64% in the first quarter to 79% in the third, meaning the top five customers’ share of revenue declined from roughly 36% to 21%. No single customer exceeded 10% of revenue over the nine months through September 2026, and more existing clients are moving into costlier tiers as they integrate Claude into their workflows.

That said, the firm’s reliance on a few large partners still bears watching. End users may broaden, but nearly 48% of first-half revenue came through cloud marketplaces operated by Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services, both of which operate their own AI business. End-customer diversification does not eliminate dependence on cloud partners for distribution, infrastructure and financing.1

8%: Revenue and margin have been catching up to spending

Anthropic spent nearly $9 billion on infrastructure and computing capacity in the first half of 2026, compared with approximately $7.3 billion for all of 2025.1 But that spending has declined considerably as a percentage of revenue.

At the same time, operating margins have improved. In the second quarter, Anthropic reported a positive operating margin of 8%.1

Compute Burden Fell as Operating Margin Turned Positive

imagepmuug.pngSource: Anthropic, PBC, Form S-1, filed 10/26/26.
Anthropic's proposed IPO and a potential big year for AI

Anthropic intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ANT. The number of shares to be offered and the expected price range have not yet been determined.2 The company’s seven co-founders will collectively hold a single Class F share carrying 50.1% of total voting power.

Governance may also be a consideration for prospective investors. Anthropic's Public Benefit Corporation structure requires directors to balance shareholder interests with the company’s public-benefit mission, which is “the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity.”

Anthropic’s IPO is just one of several possible high-profile AI-sector offerings that could come to market in the months to come. While OpenAI, Anthropic’s key rival, may delay an IPO until 2027,3 companies including SB Energy and Nscale could also move toward offerings by the end of the year.  

The bottom line: ANT may be on the way

Anthropic’s S-1 is a notable milestone on the road to a highly anticipated AI IPO and offers a more complete picture of the company and its finances. The filing shows exceptional revenue growth and a broadening customer base, but it also makes clear that frontier AI is an unusually capital-intensive business. Investors may ultimately judge the offering on three linked questions: whether reported growth continues, whether margins continue to improve, and whether Anthropic can earn attractive returns as it spends heavily on computing capacity.

Learn about ProShares’ planned Anthropic ETFs.

 

[1] Source: Anthropic, PBC, Form S-1, filed 10/26/26.
[2] Source: Anthropic, “Anthropic files S-1 with the SEC for proposed initial public offering,” 10/26/26.
[3] Source: ProShares, “Anthropic’s IPO: How It Compares with OpenAI,” 9/24/26.
 
 
STRATEGY Leveraged & Inverse
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Leveraged & Inverse
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This is not intended to be investment advice. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.    

Any forward-looking statements herein are based on expectations of ProShare Advisors LLC at this time. Whether or not actual results and developments will conform to ProShare Advisors LLC’s expectations and predictions, however, is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including general economic, market and business conditions; changes in laws or regulations or other actions made by governmental authorities or regulatory bodies; and other world economic and political developments. ProShare Advisors LLC undertakes no duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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