Approximately 45% growth compared to the previous quarter... Quarterly sales growth decreased from $6.9 billion to $5.2 billion, showing surplus on an adjusted basis for two consecutive quarters... Promotion of initial public offering in November
It has been reported that Antropic, the developer of the artificial intelligence (AI) model 'Claude', posted $16.8 billion in sales in the third quarter of this year and continued to maintain a surplus on an adjusted basis. Although sales volume increased, both growth rate and increase compared to the previous quarter were lower than in the second quarter.
According to Reuters on the 14th (local time), Antropic presented its third quarter performance at an investor briefing held in San Francisco, USA. Quarterly sales reported by briefing attendees were $4.7 billion in the first quarter, $11.6 billion in the second quarter, and $16.8 billion in the third quarter.
Sales in the second quarter more than doubled compared to the previous quarter, but the growth rate in the third quarter slowed to about 45%. The increase in sales compared to the previous quarter, calculated based on this figure, also decreased from $6.9 billion in the second quarter to $5.2 billion in the third quarter.
In terms of profitability, the company maintained a surplus on an adjusted basis. The Financial Times (FT) reported that Antropic made a profit on an adjusted basis for two consecutive quarters, and recorded an operating profit margin of 11% and positive cash flow in the third quarter. Adjusted profit should be distinguished from net profit under general accounting standards as it is an indicator that excludes or adjusts some costs or items.
The corporate customer base grew rapidly in the first half of the year. Antropic announced that the number of corporate customers spending more than $1 million last April exceeded 1,000 when converted to annual usage. The number has doubled from over 500 in February in less than two months. The company explained that companies are introducing Claude to one task and then expanding its use to other tasks within the organization.
Securing computing resources to respond to the expansion of use by corporate customers entails long-term cost burden. Reuters reported last month that Antropic had committed to infrastructure spending worth at least $518 billion over the next 10 years, based on documents related to its private listing. Of these, approximately 80% are said to be difficult to cancel or have a structure that requires payment regardless of actual usage. Long-term contracts are the basis for service expansion, but payment burden may remain even if usage volume falls below expectations.
Preparations for listing are also continuing. Bloomberg previously reported that Antropic is planning to begin an official listing briefing session for investors as early as the week of November 9 and begin trading before Thanksgiving. Final schedule may change.
During the listing process, a key evaluation factor is expected to be whether the expansion of corporate customer use can lead to steady cash generation sufficient to cover long-term infrastructure spending.
