Anthropic officially filed to go public yesterday and plans to trade on Nasdaq under ANT, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley leading a 22-bank syndicate. And in a surprise to investors, the company revealed it finally posted an operating profit.  

Anthropic has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the world, generating $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier. About 80% of revenue came from customers paying based on usage. The company is starting to diversify revenue too, and its five biggest customers accounted for 21% of revenue in Q3, down from 36% in Q1. So while the biggest accounts are getting bigger, the rest of the business is growing faster at the perfect time to go public. 

Anthropic made a $974 million operating profit on $11.6 billion of second-quarter revenue. Anthropic also reported a $66.3 billion net loss, but a lot of that was thanks to noncash charges tied to its financing arrangements. So investors will be pleased to know that, for at least one quarter, revenue grew large enough to cover the cost of running the business.

Anthropic is reportedly discussing a valuation of $1.4 trillion to $1.5 trillion, with $1.75 trillion potentially achievable. That’s compared to $380 billion in February and, at a $1.5 trillion valuation, buyers would be paying ~32x second-quarter revenue annualized. Marketing could begin the week of November 9, and Anthropic hopes to match or beat SpaceX’s $75 billion IPO. 

And Anthropic needs the proceeds because since the end of 2025, the company has signed computing agreements with roughly $417 billion in minimum obligations, and some stretch as long as 20 years. While computing costs are falling relative to revenue, the company is still committing to capacity long before it knows exactly what customers will pay to use it. 

Management is giving prospective shareholders an unusually blunt welcome. The filing says Anthropic will sometimes “depart from profit maximization,” make investments that “may seem irresponsibly large” and hold back models over safety concerns, even if rivals benefit. Most companies spend the roadshow explaining why shareholders come first, but Anthropic is making sure that expectation doesn’t survive the prospectus.

Takeaway: Anthropic’s filing gives AI bulls something worth celebrating but at a potential $1.5 trillion valuation, investors are paying for a lot more than one good quarter and are betting that growth can outrun enormous computing bills. Claude can help you understand the prospectus, but it can’t promise you’re getting a good deal.