Several major questions that remain unanswered after Anthropic's IPO prospectus was published
The big questions remaining after Anthropic’s blockbuster IPO prospectus
Anthropic's S-1 prospectus filed this week disclosed revenue of $16.29 billion and cost of revenue of $2.38 billion for the first half of 2026, a gross margin of about 85%, compared with revenue of $1.16 billion in the first half of 2025. The filing shows quarter-over-quarter revenue growth slowed from about 144% in the second quarter to about 47% in the third quarter, but does not give management's expectations for the slowdown. The prospectus states that cost of revenue is almost entirely related to compute and infrastructure, and that operating margin will fluctuate as large amounts of compute are delivered. Seven co-founders, including CEO Dario Amodei, hold 50.1% of voting power through a single Class F share, and the company says this capital and governance structure has no direct precedent among listed companies. The IPO valuation is not given in the filing; analysts estimate a range of $1 trillion to $2 trillion.
The $16.29 billion in revenue and 85% gross margin for the first half of 2026 disclosed in the S-1 provide first-hand data for observing this AI lab's business model.