Anthropic's IPO Filing Answers Many Questions, But Not All

Anthropic's more than 300-page S-1 filing this week offered the fullest public look yet at how a pure-play AI lab earns its money, but several major questions remain unanswered.

The filing showed cost of revenue of $2.38 billion in the first half of 2026 against $16.29 billion in revenue, implying an 85% gross margin. Revenue grew from just $1.16 billion in the first half of 2025, though sequential growth slowed from roughly 144% in the second quarter to about 47% in the third. Leverage Shares analyst Violeta Todorova questioned whether revenue can keep pace with expectations, noting it is unclear what each additional dollar of revenue costs as computing demand rises. Morningstar's Michael Field said the prospectus did not disclose management's expectations around that slowdown.

Compute remains a central unknown. The filing states substantially all cost of revenue is tied to compute and infrastructure, and that Anthropic has historically operated in a compute-constrained environment where demand exceeded available supply. Futurum Group's Nick Patience said investors can see compute falling as a share of revenue but not how much forward commitment goes to training next-generation models versus serving customers.

Governance also raises questions. Seven co-founders, including CEO Dario Amodei, hold a single Class F share carrying 50.1% of total voting power, a structure Anthropic says has no direct public company precedent. Field noted it is unknown whether investors will accept the lack of control or how it will affect the share price.

The IPO valuation itself remains undisclosed, to be set through negotiations. Analyst estimates range from $1 trillion to $2 trillion.

Source: CNBC