Anthropic updated its S-1 filing ahead of its IPO and disclosed more detail on the economics of compute. The Monday filing extended previously published financials by one quarter, covering results through September 30.
Key figures and trends
- Revenue in the most recent quarter rose to $17 billion, up from $11.5 billion in the prior quarter, indicating strong, sustained growth.
- Despite higher revenue, operating losses increased, driven largely by rising compute expenses.
- Compute accounted for 58% of revenue in the quarter, up from 48% the quarter before.
- A chart in the filing tracks revenue per dollar of compute spend: since early 2025 the ratio fluctuated, peaking at just over 2x in the last quarter before falling to 1.72x.
- The company reported roughly $10 billion of compute spending in the quarter, including $5.0 billion for compute acquired under short‑term commitments that currently cost significantly more than comparable compute procured under multi‑year commitments.
Why costs increased
Anthropic says rapid demand growth forced it to secure additional compute on short notice, which meant paying higher rates. The company entered large deals with “neocloud” providers that offer flexible capacity at premium prices compared with hyperscalers. The filing notes a $1.25 billion per month arrangement with SpaceX, as well as multibillion‑dollar deals with Nscale, Akamai, and Volta.
Those higher‑cost short‑term commitments materially worsened compute margins: even as revenue rose quickly, the amount of revenue generated per dollar of compute spent deteriorated.
Strategy and outlook
The filing states: “We expect compute and infrastructure expenses to increase in absolute dollars and remain our largest operating expense for the foreseeable future as additional committed compute becomes available to us under multi‑year arrangements with CSPs, and as we continue to invest in additional compute.”
Anthropic is also investing in building its own capacity through a program called “Anthropic Direct” to reduce reliance on external, more expensive providers over time. But because demand is expanding rapidly, those investments cannot immediately replace the short‑term capacity needs, so neocloud partners will continue to play a central role.
Broader risks
At present these are the sort of "good problems" many investors tolerate: strong top‑line growth (nearly 50% quarter‑over‑quarter) can offset concerns about high compute costs. If demand slows, improving compute margins may reassure investors.
However, the disclosures highlight how dependent AI labs remain on a trillion‑dollar infrastructure build‑out and how vulnerable they are to delays—whether from tighter capital markets, geopolitical factors, or local opposition to data‑center construction. Anthropic has limited ability to control those macro risks, any of which could exacerbate its compute cost challenges.
Conclusion
The S-1 update shows Anthropic is growing rapidly but contending with sharply higher compute costs that have eroded margins in the short term. Multi‑year commitments and its Anthropic Direct initiative aim to improve the situation over time, yet for the immediate future the company will rely on higher‑cost external capacity to meet surging demand.
