Anthropic generated $6.6 billion of operating cash in the first nine months of 2026, against $2.0 billion of cash used in the same period of 2025, according to the cash-flow statement in the amended Form S-1 it filed with the SEC on Monday, 2 November.
The original Form S-1, filed on 26 October, reported $3,929 million for the first six months, which puts third-quarter operating cash at about $2.6 billion by our arithmetic. Cash and short-term investments came to about $131.9 billion on 30 September, by our arithmetic from the two figures the filing gives.
The key insight: Anthropic’s amended S-1 shows $6.6 billion of operating cash for the first nine months of 2026, against $2.0 billion used a year earlier, and about $2.6 billion in the third quarter by our arithmetic from its two filings.
The amended filing says “Net cash provided by operating activities was $6.6 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 as compared to cash used in operating activities of $2.0 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2025”. In the table, the nine-month figure is $6,569 million, against $(2,024) million a year earlier.
The filing attributes the change to “an improvement in net loss adjusted for non-cash items, partially offset by a lower benefit from changes in working capital, primarily reflecting the timing of payments to vendors and cash receipts from customers”.
Accounts receivable rose by $7,076 million over the nine months, which reduced operating cash, while deferred revenue added $1,702 million and accounts payable and other liabilities added $4,377 million, according to the statement.
Anthropic’s net cash from operating activities for the first nine months of 2025, the first half of 2026 and the third quarter of 2026 (the quarter is our arithmetic: nine months minus six months), and cash plus short-term investments on 30 June and 30 September 2026, in millions and billions of dollars. Source: Anthropic PBC, Form S-1/A (2 November 2026) and Form S-1 (26 October 2026).
The Third Quarter, by Subtraction
The filing does not report the third quarter on its own. Subtracting the six-month figure of $3,929 million in the 26 October filing from the nine-month $6,569 million gives about $2,640 million of operating cash in the quarter, by our arithmetic.
Purchases of property and equipment were $925 million for the nine months and $482 million for the first half, so about $443 million in the third quarter, by our arithmetic. Operating cash minus those purchases comes to about $5.6 billion for the nine months and about $2.2 billion for the quarter, by our arithmetic.
The amended statement also shows $1,955 million of prepayments for leased assets and equipment over the nine months, a line that does not appear in the six-month statement of the 26 October filing. Deducting it as well leaves about $3.7 billion for the nine months, by our arithmetic.
Where the Cash Sits
As of 30 September, Anthropic had cash and cash equivalents of $95.6 billion and short-term investments of $36.3 billion, the amended filing says, about $131.9 billion together by our arithmetic. The 26 October filing put the 30 June figures at $112.4 billion and $19.3 billion, about $131.7 billion by the same arithmetic. Both filings say Anthropic had raised an aggregate of $141.1 billion of capital.
Over the nine months, net cash used in investing activities was $36.5 billion, mostly purchases of short-term investments of $40,318 million, and financing activities provided $110.7 billion, from issuing redeemable convertible preferred stock, according to the filing.
Against the Bill Coming Due
The same filing lists about $69.8 billion of commitments due in the 12 months after 30 September, as we reported in our piece on Anthropic’s $895 billion of commitments. Cash and short-term investments of $131.9 billion are about 1.9 times that amount, by our arithmetic.
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As we read the cash-flow statement, the filing credits the swing to its net loss adjusted for non-cash items, with working capital giving a smaller benefit; receivables rose by $7,076 million over the nine months.
As we read the balance sheet lines, cash and short-term investments barely moved between 30 June and 30 September, at about $131.7 billion and $131.9 billion by our arithmetic, and both filings say Anthropic had raised $141.1 billion.
Anthropic’s amended Form S-1
“Net cash provided by operating activities was $6.6 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026”
Three Implications
FOR IPO INVESTORS The amended filing reports $6,569 million of operating cash for the nine months, against $(2,024) million a year earlier.
FOR COMPUTE SUPPLIERS The amended filing reports $925 million of property and equipment purchases and $1,955 million of prepayments for leased assets and equipment over the nine months.
FOR LENDERS The amended filing reports $95.6 billion of cash and cash equivalents and $36.3 billion of short-term investments as of 30 September.
The framework says: “The $1T capex cycle is being underwritten by a $1T concentrated demand commitment from two counterparties whose combined free cash flow is deeply negative.”
As we read it, Anthropic’s amended filing adds a cash line to one side of that argument: $6.6 billion of operating cash in nine months, before $925 million of property purchases and $1,955 million of lease prepayments. The framework is the owner’s argument and does not discuss this filing.
The third-quarter cash figures are our arithmetic from two filings and are not reported by Anthropic. Interim cash-flow figures are unaudited. The operating-cash-minus-purchases figures are our measure, not one the filing reports, and the prepayment line has no six-month comparison.
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Anthropic’s amended S-1 shows $6.6 billion of operating cash for the first nine months of 2026, against $2.0 billion used a year earlier, and about $2.6 billion in the third quarter by subtraction from the 26 October filing. Cash and short-term investments stood at about $131.9 billion on 30 September.
A note on sourcing. Figures and quotations are from Anthropic’s amended Form S-1 filed with the SEC on 2 November 2026 and its Form S-1 filed on 26 October 2026; interim figures are unaudited. The third-quarter cash figures, the operating-cash-minus-purchases measures, the cash totals and the 1.9-times comparison are our arithmetic.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
