Few private firms ask investors to underwrite growth two years out, but Anthropic is doing exactly that: people familiar with its financials say the AI company expects 2028 revenue between $190B and $200B. Even the low end would more than quadruple the $47B run rate it publicized in May.
The forecast means bankers and investors are pricing Anthropic on business it expects to write two years from now, an unusual approach even for high-growth software firms. Cerebras backers cited 2028 expectations before that company’s listing this year, and SpaceX projections stretched to 2029 before its June debut.
Wall Street is applying forward revenue multiples, with public peers as reference points. Palantir trades at about 53 times expected 2026 revenue, while SpaceX and Cloudflare each trade at roughly 41.6 times, according to LSEG data. Anthropic’s own pace: a $9B run rate at the end of 2025, projected revenue of at least $10.9B for the second quarter of 2026, and a first quarterly operating profit of $559M on the way.
The bet is that spending on GPUs, training and hiring shrinks as a share of revenue as the company scales. “Could they get a $2 trillion valuation, yeah they could, and I just wonder if it would stay there over time,” said David Merkel, a principal at investment firm Aleph Investments.
Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment. The company is expected to hold an analyst day as it prepares for what could be one of the biggest IPOs on record.
