How Do OpenAI's Margins Compare With Anthropic's?

Joey Brookhart says OpenAI's margins do not look like Anthropic's. OpenAI was 60% consumer and 40% enterprise at the end of the first quarter, and that mix did not become enterprise-led until later. The token business is 80% of Anthropic's revenue. OpenAI's weight has been consumer and subscription, so that consumption business took longer to show up. OpenAI still took the majority of the industry's net new annual recurring revenue in the third quarter. Figures reported in the Wall Street Journal put OpenAI at negative 100% EBIT margins, against positive 11% at Anthropic. OpenAI does not monetize at the same rate, in part because the consumer versus enterprise split is still moving.

OpenAI has a stronger enterprise sales function than Anthropic and sees a strong fourth quarter, so the business should improve. The financials are not expected to look as good as Anthropic's, even if an S-1 lands in early 2027. Brookhart reads the delayed listing as time to get those numbers in better shape. Enterprise revenue grew 100% quarter over quarter in the third quarter, while the whole business grew 77%.