--- title: "Investors Disturbed by Anthropic’s Financial Data" description: "A new investor presentation now has once-faithful backers doubting Anthropic can ever hit its lofty $2 trillion target." date: "2026-10-17" modified: "2026-10-17" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/anthropic-investors-ai-financial-revenue" categories: - "Finance" - "Future Society" --- # Investors Disturbed by Anthropic’s Financial Data ![CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump holds a press briefing with AI executives.]() *Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/Futurism* When your company is gearing up for one of the hottest IPOs in stock market history, you'd better believe investors and outside experts alike will be poring over your finances with a fine-toothed comb. This is the situation AI lab Anthropic finds itself in during the run-up to its widely anticipated public offering. Earlier this week, the [*Wall Street Journal* reported]() that Anthropic had told private investors its revenue had grown 45 percent to nearly $17 billion. That news came nearly a month after news broke that the AI company was bragging to investors that it was profitable — although only if you used a [special accounting method]() that stripped out most of its expenses. Yet as investors immediately noticed, that $17 billion revenue figure is a drop in the bucket compared to the kind of growth needed to sustain the firm's anticipated $2 trillion valuation. As [*Business Insider* notes](), Anthropic's third quarter income might look incredible on paper, but it falls far short of the growth needed to justify its 13-figure target. "Not good enough," a social media account belonging to market research blog Geiger Capital commented [in a post](). "It's over." "Anyone remember this?" posted AI researcher and critic [Gary Marcus](), alongside a screenshot of a headline stating that Anthropic would need revenue of about $190-200 billion by 2028 to justify its valuation. "They ain't gonna come close." https://twitter.com/GaryMarcus/status/2110537076768977120?s=20 After the revenue announcement, [*Reuters* reported]() that some investors immediately began weighing a lower valuation of about $1.5 trillion, representing a $500 billion gap in Anthropic's narrative. Their concerns are understandable at this stage in the game, as the extremely high cost of the AI buildout is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. Whether Anthropic's revenue growth trends upward — and steeply enough — is a crucial issue for the broader tech sector**:** in late September, a [leaked IPO filing]() revealed that the company brought in $4.6 billion in revenue across 2025, but lost $42 billion. Given that the AI lab has committed to spending some [$518 billion]() on AI infrastructure over the next decade, though, the time for Anthropic to tap into explosive revenue growth was clearly yesterday. **More on Anthropic:** *[Eggheads at Anthropic Said They Used Claude to "Solve" Humor]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()