Anthropic reported third-quarter revenue of $16.8 billion as growth slowed from the previous quarter, raising questions about its planned IPO valuation.
US wholesale inflation accelerated to 6.3% annually in September, strengthening concerns about persistent price pressures and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
CoreWeave shares rebounded as BNP Paribas highlighted the risks associated with its financing structure, while gold prices climbed as a weaker dollar and lower Treasury yields supported the precious metal.
Anthropic’s revenue growth slows ahead of IPO
Anthropic’s revenue rose 45% quarter over quarter to $16.8 billion in the third quarter, while the Claude developer told prospective investors it was profitable on an adjusted basis.
However, the growth rate slowed compared with earlier quarters.
Revenue increased from approximately $4.7 billion in the first quarter to $11.6 billion in the second, representing growth of well over 100% before the latest advance.
The company is targeting a valuation above $2 trillion, while analysts who met executives estimate its annual revenue run rate could reach around $110 billion by year-end.
However, uncertainty remains over whether its reported revenue reflects gross or net sales, given its cloud partnerships.
Anthropic’s challenge will be sustaining revenue growth as models become cheaper and competition intensifies.
US wholesale inflation accelerates to 6.3%
US producer prices rose 1.3% month over month and 6.3% year over year in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Both readings exceeded economists’ expectations of 0.6% monthly growth and 5.5% annually. The annual increase was the largest since December 2022.
Goods prices surged 2.6%, their largest monthly increase since the series began in December 2009. Energy prices jumped 10.8%, accounting for more than 80% of the increase in goods costs, while gasoline prices climbed 20.3%. Food prices rose 1.2%.
Services prices increased 0.8% after advancing 0.2% in August. Trade services margins rose 1.4%, contributing nearly half of the increase in services prices.
The report followed September’s hotter-than-expected consumer inflation figures.
Initial jobless claims, meanwhile, edged up by 1,000 to 199,000 in the week ended October 10, remaining below economists’ forecast of 200,000.
The data strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve could keep rates higher for longer. Traders assigned roughly a 27% probability to an October rate hike, according to CME FedWatch data, while markets priced in an 89.5% probability of an increase in December.
CoreWeave shares rebound even as financing risks remain
CoreWeave shares rose nearly 5% on Thursday, recovering from earlier losses as bond yields rebounded from earlier levels and BNP Paribas assessed the company’s financing structure.
Analyst Daniel Wang maintained an Overweight rating and a $169 price target, distinguishing between CoreWeave’s AssetCo and ParentCo debt structures.
Wang said AssetCo obligations appeared to carry relatively limited principal repayment risk because underlying cash flows were expected to exceed debt obligations as assets reached full revenue capacity.
Those cash flows would cover operating expenses, interest and principal repayments, with remaining free cash flow potentially available to ParentCo.
However, Wang identified ParentCo leverage and the company’s continued reliance on external financing to expand capacity as the more pressing concerns.
He said some unsecured obligations had implied yields as high as 15%, potentially making traditional ParentCo debt financing increasingly uneconomic.
Convertible debt and equity issuance could therefore become the primary sources of additional corporate capital until credit investors gain confidence in CoreWeave’s ability to fund itself.
Wang said stronger free cash flow from active capacity and newer contracts could help, but the stock remains increasingly sensitive to credit-market sentiment.
Gold rises as dollar and Treasury yields fall
Gold prices climbed on Thursday, recovering from a one-week low as the US dollar weakened and Treasury yields declined, despite the latest inflation data.
Spot gold rose 1.66% to $4,173.2 an ounce, while US December gold futures settled 2.1% higher at $4,194.2.
The dollar index fell 0.5%, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield reached a three-week low, supporting demand for the non-yielding metal.
Investors awaited comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh at the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting.
Other precious metals also advanced. Spot silver gained 2.5% to $57.05 an ounce, platinum rose 1% to $1,622.40, and palladium climbed 3.4% to $1,131.25.
The post Evening digest: Anthropic revenue growth slows, US PPI rises appeared first on Invezz
