US stock futures steady as Anthropic’s sales growth boosts tech stocks

Anthropic just posted the kind of revenue growth that makes even the most jaded Wall Street analysts do a double take. The AI company behind Claude reported Q2 2026 revenue exceeding $11.5 billion, up from $787 million in the same quarter last year. That’s a 14-fold increase.

Nasdaq 100 futures climbed roughly 0.5% on the morning of August 17, while S&P 500 futures stayed essentially flat.

The numbers behind the optimism

Anthropic’s Q1 2026 revenue came in at $4.73 billion, meaning it more than doubled sequentially in just three months. By mid-May 2026, its annualized run-rate revenue had already surpassed $47 billion, up from $30 billion in April and $9 billion at the close of 2025.

Anthropic also reported a positive adjusted operating income for the quarter.

Micron Technology shares rose about 4.5% in early trading, while Sandisk surged approximately 6.7%. Both companies supply the memory and storage infrastructure that AI systems devour at scale.

Anthropic’s Claude AI models and its Claude Code tool have been the primary engines of this growth, driving enterprise adoption across industries.

Geopolitics provide a ceiling

The broader market’s muted reaction, despite tech’s strong showing, reflects a familiar tension. Rising geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and climbing oil prices kept investors cautious across traditional sectors.

The IPO question looms large

Growing speculation around a potential Anthropic IPO later this year adds another layer to the story. The company’s annualized run-rate of $47 billion puts it in the revenue neighborhood of companies that took decades to reach that scale.