Capital · United States

AI stocks crumble on report that OpenAI’s annualized revenue is much lower than believed

Credited to SiliconANGLE · siliconangle.com · 11h ago

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Technology stocks fell lower today following a report that artificial intelligence giant OpenAI Group PBC’s annualized revenue this year is about $20 billion less than what was previously reported by the media, sending shockwaves through the industry.

A report today by the Financial Times revealed that OpenAI recently told prospective investors that its annualized revenue was approaching $50 billion – far below the $68 billion figure that was widely reported two months ago. The discrepancy between the reports appears to have rattled investors Many had already been questioning whether the demand for AI will be strong enough to justify the sky-high valuations of OpenAI and its rival Anthropic PBC, which are both gearing up for initial public offerings to capitalize on the AI boom.

The Nasdaq index fell 1.25% today, its worst single-day performance since mid-August, while the broader S&P 500 fell 0.5%, weighed down by a decline in tech-related stocks. Both indexes opened lower today, only for the declines to accelerate following the Financial Times report.

An anonymous source, who asked not to be named in order to discuss OpenAI’s finances, said company officials provided the $50 billion figure during an investor presentation. The previously reported $68 billion figure included gross revenue from OpenAI’s partners, the source said, in order to provide a more direct comparison to numbers reported by Anthropic, whereas the newer figure was based on net revenue. In addition to the $50 billion figure, OpenAI also pointed to 77% growth in its annual revenue run rate during the third quarter, as well as a 107% growth in run rate for its enterprise business.

Oracle Corp., which has significant contracts with OpenAI valued in the multiple billions of dollars, was one of the worst hit tech stocks, falling 5.5% in trading today. Intel Corp. fell 5.3% and Nvidia Corp. declined 2.9%. CoreWeave Inc., the specialist graphics processing unit cloud infrastructure provider, suffered an 8% drop, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Broadcom Inc. both slipped 4%, and the server maker Super Micro Computer Inc. fell almost 5%.

Many tech stocks have been booming this year based on the premise that demand for AI will continue growing over the next few years. But if there are wrinkles in that story, such as OpenAI earning significantly less revenue than expected, potentially affecting its ability to fulfill its contractual obligations, that could send shockwaves throughout the entire industry.

Holger Mueller, an analyst with Constellation Research, told SiliconANGLE that what happened today makes it clear that investors really need to do more research about the true state of the AI industry’s finances to try and understand whether its business model is truly viable. “AI companies need massive funding and it’s still not clear how much is actually going to be required, which makes it hard to understand the real value,” he said. “But in any case, there’s no room for error in the tentative calculations of investors, and so any wobbles like revenue not being what was hoped are going to create shockwaves for the wider ecosystem.”

OpenAI is facing immense pressure to justify its most recent valuation of $852 billion as it gears up for what is one of the most hotly anticipated IPOs of all time. The company confidentially filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, and was originally planning to go public this year, but has recently signaled that it’s now eying a 2027 debut. Chief Executive Sam Altman confirmed that’s the plan last month, saying the company was going to delay its plans amid the ongoing debate around AI safety.

Anthropic is still believed to be eyeing a 2026 IPO, with recent reports suggesting that it could go public as soon as Nov. 9, just before Thanksgiving. It’s reportedly seeking a $2 trillion valuation, which would instantly make it one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies. In August, a report by Bloomberg cited anonymous sources as saying it’s on track to generate annualized revenue of more than $65 billion.

However, there are questions about whether Anthropic’s valuation is justified. Though the company is believed to have made significantly better traction with enterprise customers than OpenAI, a report on Tuesday by the independent financial researcher New Constructs labeled Anthropic’s offering as “the most ridiculous IPO of 2026,” valuing the company at just $150 billion, far below its target.

Anthropic generated a mere $4.6 billion in revenue in 2025, while its losses came to more than $42 billion that year, according to a leaked copy of the company’s prospectus seen by Reuters.

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