Anthropic Sets Long-Term Adjusted Operating Margin Goal Above 35%

Anthropic is targeting an adjusted operating margin above 35% over the long term, a goal more than twice its third-quarter level amid rapid revenue growth and large future computing commitments.

Anthropic submitted an S-1 registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 26 as it moves toward a public offering. The long-term goal contrasts with a 15% adjusted operating margin in Q3, down from 19% in Q2.

Revenue in the third quarter reached about $17 billion, up 47% from the prior quarter. Anthropic recorded an operating loss of $567 million under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), while adjusted operating income was about $2.5 billion. The figures are part of Anthropic’s Q3 results.

In Q2, revenue was $11.6 billion and GAAP operating income was $974 million, an 8% margin. Adjusted operating income rose from $2.2 billion in Q2 to about $2.5 billion in Q3 even as the adjusted margin declined. Anthropic generated $4.6 billion in revenue for all of 2025 and $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026; Q3 revenue alone exceeded that first-half total.

The adjusted measure excludes stock-based compensation. That adjustment helped produce positive adjusted operating income in Q3 alongside the GAAP loss, so the two figures show different results for the same quarter.

The S-1 gave estimates for future compute purchase obligations ranging from roughly $590 billion to more than $800 billion.

Margins may vary as contracted computing capacity arrives in stages. Anthropic may also use more expensive short-term capacity to fill gaps while it waits for committed capacity, another factor that could affect the margin it reports over time.