With a staggering $2 trillion valuation, surpassing SpaceX ($1.77 trillion), Claude's parent company, Anthropic, is rushing to go public as early as next month. Behind this capital rush lies a clear slowdown in its core performance. It's worth noting that companies presenting "impressive" figures during their IPO push often rely on heavily embellished data, but even under this filter, Anthropic's sluggish growth is undeniable: its annualized revenue growth rate has plummeted from 140% in the second quarter to approximately 45% in the third quarter (quarterly revenue of approximately $16 billion). Its current annualized revenue of $67 billion to $74 billion is far below the market and community's widespread expectation of "breaking $100 billion by the end of the year" during the AI boom at the beginning of the year. While the company is still growing in absolute terms, the embellished financial reports cannot conceal the slowing growth. To maintain its massive $2 trillion valuation, Anthropic's most pressing option is to quickly go public and cash out before the market window closes.
