Anthropic Aims for Fall IPO as Revenue Falls Short of Targets, $10 Billion Credit Line Reflects High Expectations

Although the financial figures of AI giant Anthropic appear impressive on the surface, market concerns about 'slowing growth' are emerging. According to disclosures, Anthropic's annualized revenue run rate (ARR) reached $65 billion by the end of July—significantly below Wall Street's optimistic forecasts.

As previously reported by Bloomberg, Anthropic posted an ARR of $65 billion, a significant jump from $9 billion at the end of 2025. However, market expectations were even higher: research firm TickerTrends projected an ARR of $74.3 billion by late July, while Yipit estimated $69 billion. The actual figure of $65 billion indicates that growth momentum has failed to meet investor enthusiasm.

Analysts note that to sustain a price-to-sales ratio (P/S ratio) of around 50x, Anthropic is expected to achieve $200 billion in revenue by 2028. Yet with current growth falling short, pressure is mounting on this 'capital game.' Amazon (AMZN-US) and Google derive up to 70% of their AI-related income from contributions by unicorns OpenAI and Anthropic; if these two fail to continue exceeding performance targets, it could negatively impact the broader strategies of major tech giants.

Against the backdrop of unmet revenue goals, Anthropic has recently expanded its revolving credit facility beyond $10 billion and plans to go public this fall ahead of OpenAI. While this move is interpreted as mimicking SpaceX’s pre-IPO financing strategy, large-scale fundraising and up to $15 billion in data center debt financing are also seen by some observers as necessary measures to secure cash flow amid high interest rates.

The external environment remains challenging. Analysts warn that global long-term interest rates are collectively breaking key thresholds, and hedge funds have established the largest-ever short positions in Nasdaq futures. With internal growth underperforming and external pressures from high rates and massive short bets, whether Anthropic can maintain a high valuation through its IPO has become Wall Street’s biggest question.