Ahead of Blockbuster IPO, Anthropic Reportedly Forecasts 2028 Revenue Reaching Up to $200B

 

Anthropic, the developer behind the Claude chatbot, internally projects its revenue will reach between $190 billion and $200 billion by 2028, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The forecast carries major weight: beyond underscoring rapid business expansion, it offers a crucial benchmark for institutional investors evaluating Anthropic ahead of what could be a historic initial public offering, potentially launching as early as next month.

 

A $200 billion revenue projection represents more than a fourfold increase from the $47 billion annualized revenue run rate the company disclosed in May.

 

In recent months, Anthropic has surpassed chief rival OpenAI in both annualized run rate and private valuation, turning its upcoming debut into one of the most closely watched public listings in recent years.

 

Investment bankers and investors are reportedly using the revenue projection to model Anthropic's valuation via enterprise value-to-revenue (EV/Sales) multiples—a standard market approach for high-growth tech firms that have yet to optimize for mature operating margins.

 

Projecting forward financials across a multi-year horizon, however, remains an aggressive modeling practice.

 

It reflects both the blistering pace of Anthropic's commercial expansion and the inherent challenge of valuing an AI developer that continues to pour massive capital expenditures into computing infrastructure.

 

Recent mega-cap market debuts established a precedent for this methodology.

 

Investors referenced 2028 revenue projections ahead of Cerebras Systems' listing earlier this year, while SpaceX's record-setting June IPO drew on financial projections extending out to 2029, according to people familiar with the process.

 

Marketing materials shared with prospective investors indicate Anthropic generated second-quarter revenue exceeding $11.5 billion—a roughly 14-fold surge year-over-year, up from $4.73 billion in the first quarter. The documents also show Anthropic achieved positive adjusted operating income for the second quarter of 2026.

IPO Valuation Could Reach $2 Trillion

Institutional investors are racing to establish price discovery on the asset.

 

Several Anthropic backers recently told media outlets that the company aims for an October IPO that could command a valuation of $2 trillion or more. At that scale, the offering would surpass SpaceX to rank as the largest initial public offering in capital markets history.

 

Anthropic previously raised $65 billion in May at a valuation of $965 billion.

 

"Could Anthropic command a $2 trillion valuation? It is certainly possible.

 

The question is whether that level of valuation can be sustained over time," said David Merkel, principal at Aleph Investments. "Does AI genuinely drive that magnitude of productivity expansion? Those are the core fundamental questions investors must confront when pricing or buying the equity."

 

As private entities, neither Anthropic nor OpenAI discloses cash burn rates, though industry reporting suggests capital spending remains elevated across both platforms.

 

In recent months, mounting capital expenditure requirements across the AI landscape have driven pullbacks in several market darlings, including companies frequently used as valuation comps for Anthropic.