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Anthropic roadshow disclosed long-term adjusted operating margin target and computing power cost plan

BIBIBIPublished 11/11, 10:13 (Beijing time)Updated 11/11, 10:24

AT A GLANCE

According to reports, Anthropic proposed a long-term adjusted operating margin target of at least 35%, but did not give a timeline, and still recorded a GAAP loss in the third quarter.

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Anthropic roadshow disclosed long-term operating margin target of 35% or above, and computing power expenditure ratio target reduced to 45% to 50%

Dongcha Beating AI news flash, Anthropic disclosed in the IPO roadshow video released on November 10 that the company believes it can achieve an adjusted operating margin of 35% or above in the long term, higher than the 15% in the third quarter of 2026, but did not give a clear timeline for achieving it.

Anthropic Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao said the company plans to improve its long-term cost structure by enhancing computing power efficiency, increasing the proportion of directly leased chips and data centers, and expanding the share of inference business. The ratio of computing and infrastructure expenditure to revenue is targeted to decrease from 58% in the third quarter to 45% to 50%; the ratio of sales, marketing, and partner expenses is planned to decrease from 14% to 7% to 10%, and the ratio of adjusted personnel and other operating expenses is planned to decrease from 13% to 7% to 10%.

Regarding customers, as of the end of September, there were more than 11,900 enterprise customers that contributed over 100000 USD in revenue to Anthropic in the past 12 months, including more than 1,900 customers contributing over 1000000 USD and about 250 customers contributing over 10000000 USD. The enterprise customer net revenue retention rate was about 900%, and more than half of enterprise customers used both Claude Platform and at least one Anthropic proprietary application. The roadshow also showcased application cases from customers such as Eli Lilly, Rakuten, Salesforce, and Walmart.

Regarding computing power efficiency, Anthropic measures it using the ratio of revenue to computing and infrastructure expenditure. This metric rose from 0.40 times in the first quarter of 2025 to 1.72 times in the third quarter of 2026, about 4.3 times the previous level, but lower than the 2.08 times in the second quarter. The company said it used about 5000000000 USD of short-term computing power in the third quarter, whose cost was significantly higher than computing power procured through multi-year agreements.

Regarding actual performance, Anthropic's third-quarter revenue was 16956000000 USD, adjusted operating profit was 2463000000 USD, and adjusted operating margin was 15%, lower than the 19% in the second quarter. On a GAAP basis, the company still recorded an operating loss of 567000000 USD in the third quarter. Adjusted metrics exclude expenses such as stock-based compensation and non-cash charitable donations, and cannot be equated with GAAP profitability. As of the end of October, the company's annualized revenue run rate was about 81000000000 USD, which is not realized full-year revenue.

Key points

According to Dongcha Beating AI, Anthropic proposed in the IPO roadshow video released on November 10 that the long-term adjusted operating margin target is 35% or above, without giving a clear timeline for achieving it.
Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao said the company plans to improve computing power efficiency, increase the proportion of directly leased chips and data centers, and expand the share of inference business.
The ratio of computing and infrastructure expenditure to revenue is targeted to decrease from 58% in the third quarter to 45% to 50%; the ratio of sales, marketing, and partner expenses is planned to decrease from 14% to 7% to 10%, and the ratio of adjusted personnel and other operating expenses is planned to decrease from 13% to 7% to 10%.
As of the end of September, there were more than 11,900 enterprise customers that contributed over 100000 USD in revenue in the past 12 months, more than 1,900 customers contributing over 1000000 USD, and about 250 customers contributing over 10000000 USD; the enterprise customer net revenue retention rate was about 900%.
More than half of enterprise customers used both Claude Platform and at least one Anthropic proprietary application; the roadshow showcased application cases from Eli Lilly, Rakuten, Salesforce, and Walmart.
The ratio of revenue to computing and infrastructure expenditure rose from 0.40 times in the first quarter of 2025 to 1.72 times in the third quarter of 2026, but was lower than the 2.08 times in the second quarter; the company said it used about 5000000000 USD of short-term computing power in the third quarter, whose cost was significantly higher than computing power procured through multi-year agreements.
Third-quarter revenue was 16956000000 USD, adjusted operating profit was 2463000000 USD, and adjusted operating margin was 15%, lower than the 19% in the second quarter; GAAP operating loss was 567000000 USD.
Adjusted metrics exclude expenses such as stock-based compensation and non-cash charitable donations. As of the end of October, the annualized revenue run rate was about 81000000000 USD, which is not realized full-year revenue.

AI-assisted interpretation

The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.

The core of this report is the long-term target, not already realized profit results. Anthropic hopes to reduce the ratio of computing power and other expenses to revenue and raise the adjusted operating margin to at least 35%. But in the third quarter this margin declined from the second quarter, and on a GAAP basis there was still an operating loss, so adjusted profitability cannot be understood as profitability under all accounting standards.

Why it matters to readers

The materials also disclosed cost reduction targets, quarterly profit performance, and long-term computing power commitments. Understanding the company's operating condition requires looking at this information together, not just the 35% target.

Focus on distinguishing three sets of concepts: long-term targets versus actual performance, adjusted profit versus GAAP profit, and annualized revenue run rate versus realized full-year revenue. The original text explicitly states that the latter two sets cannot be directly equated.

Risks and unknowns

The current evidence is a media relay and does not provide the original roadshow video or financial documents for verification, and the relevant disclosures have not been independently verified.
The long-term profit margin and expense ratio targets have no clear timeline for achievement, and whether they can be reached remains uncertain.
The computing power efficiency metric in the third quarter was lower than in the second quarter, and the adjusted operating margin also declined, so one cannot conclude from the long-term target alone that improvement has been sustained.

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Anthropic roadshow disclosed long-term adjusted operating margin target and computing power cost plan

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