Anthropic files for IPO with sales up 14x, so why the loss?
Of a US$80.7 billion net loss in the first half of 2026, about US$72.4 billion was an accounting charge. The share price and trading date are not set yet.
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Half-year revenue rose from US$1.16 billion to US$16.29 billion, about 14 times in one year. Yet the same company posted a net loss of US$80.7 billion over the same six months. How can both numbers be true?
The answer is in the Form S-1 that Anthropic, the company that makes the Claude AI models, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 26 October 2026 to sell shares to the public. It plans to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York under the symbol "ANT", Anthropic announced.
After reading, you will know where the loss comes from, who will control the company after it lists, and what to check before you act on any IPO headline.
Anthropic has filed, but no one can buy shares yet
The number of shares and the price have not been set. A Form S-1 is the document a company sends the SEC before an initial public offering (IPO), its first sale of shares to the public. It has to show the accounts and the main risks to the business. The SEC has not yet declared it effective, so no shares can be sold.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lead a group of 24 banks handling the sale, Decrypt reported. Both Anthropic and some existing shareholders will sell shares.
The huge loss is mostly an accounting charge
The loss needs reading in full. Of the US$80.7 billion net loss in the first half of 2026, about US$72.4 billion is an accounting charge: convertible notes the company issued, which are debts that can later turn into shares, became worth more as the company's value rose.
Put simply, the more Anthropic is worth, the bigger that debt looks on its books. The loss from actually running the business, known as the operating loss, was US$693 million, less than 1% of the net loss.
The revenue growth is real. Anthropic made US$16.29 billion in the six months to 30 June 2026, against US$1.16 billion in the same months of 2025, Decrypt reported from the filing. Full-year figures show the climb more clearly:
- 2023: US$41 million.
- 2024: US$386 million.
- 2025: US$4.59 billion.
- First half of 2026: US$16.29 billion, more than three times all of 2025.
A lot of money is going out too. Anthropic spent US$9 billion on AI infrastructure in the first half of 2026 and has signed cloud computing deals with Amazon, Google and others worth more than US$430 billion, Yahoo Finance reported. Just two customers brought in about a fifth of its revenue.
Before filing for the IPO, Anthropic raised US$65 billion from private investors in May at a valuation of US$965 billion, Decrypt reported.
Public shareholders will not control the company
Public buyers will get Class A shares with one vote each, but those votes will not decide who runs the company, according to the filing as Decrypt reported it. Control sits with two groups:
- Long-Term Benefit Trust: five trustees with no financial stake, who will elect most of the board through a special class of stock.
- The seven co-founders: just before the sale, a company they own will get one Class F share carrying 50.1% of the votes on most matters.
That structure makes Anthropic a "controlled company" under Nasdaq rules, meaning one where a single holder or group controls most of the votes. Anthropic is also a public benefit corporation, a company that must weigh a stated public purpose alongside profit.
The filing lists several risks
Yahoo Finance summed up several risks from the filing, including:
- Unexpected abilities: Anthropic says its models may develop abilities it does not expect, and could cause real-world harm it might not be able to cover.
- Export controls: an export control order made it suspend access to two models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for foreign nationals.
- A dispute with the Pentagon: in February, the US Defense Secretary named Anthropic a supply chain threat, and the company is suing the Department of Defense to reverse that.
Check five things before you act on an IPO headline
News stories pick only a few lines from a filing. Before you decide anything, check these five:
- Price range: wait for it. Until Anthropic sets one, nobody knows what a share will cost or what the company will be worth.
- Form S-1: read the full risk section yourself on the SEC website.
- Two losses: look at the operating loss as well as the net loss. Here they differ by about US$80 billion.
- Control: Class A buyers will not control Anthropic.
- Currency: for investors in Thailand, any return also depends on the dollar exchange rate and broker fees.
SV News does not give investment advice. If you are deciding about your own money, talk to a licensed adviser.
Next to watch: the price range and number of shares, the date trading starts, and whether the SEC asks for changes to the filing before it becomes effective.
FAQ
Has Anthropic gone public?
Not yet. It filed a Form S-1 with the SEC on 26 October 2026. Shares can be sold only after the filing becomes effective, and the price and date are not set.
What will Anthropic's stock symbol be?
ANT, on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
How much money does Anthropic make?
US$16.29 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026, and US$4.59 billion in all of 2025, according to its filing.
Is Anthropic profitable?
No. It reported a net loss of US$80.7 billion for the first half of 2026, mostly an accounting charge, and an operating loss of US$693 million.
