OpenAI's Revenue Came In $20 Billion Below Reports. AI Stocks Fell
The Financial Times reported Thursday that OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue was nearing $50 billion at the end of September — not the $70 billion figure that had been circulating. The Nasdaq had its worst day since August.
OpenAI's annualized revenue is about $20 billion less than previously reported. The Financial Times reported Thursday that the company told investors the figure was nearing $50 billion at the end of September.
A number near $70 billion had circulated in the media late last month. That figure did not come from OpenAI, a source familiar with the documents told CNN. Investors produced it to make OpenAI's numbers directly comparable to Anthropic's — and Anthropic counts sales made through cloud providers like Amazon and Google. OpenAI counts only its own net revenue.
That is the gap. Annualized revenue, also called a run rate, takes a short stretch of sales — a month, say — and stretches it across a full year. It is a rough shortcut, and what gets counted changes the answer.
Markets reacted fast. The Nasdaq fell 1.25 percent Thursday, its worst day since mid-August. The S&P 500 dropped 0.5 percent. The selling concentrated in the AI buildout: Nvidia fell 2.9 percent, Intel 5.3 percent, Oracle 5.5 percent.
“There are going to be tremors throughout all of the related sub-industries,” Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist at Baird, told CNN.
OpenAI's numbers matter because the whole AI trade runs on faith in demand. OpenAI raised $122 billion in a March funding round, according to TechCrunch. Leaked financials from earlier this year showed it made about $13 billion in 2025 but spent far more. Its IPO, once rumored for this year, has slipped to early 2027.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the Financial Times report. OpenAI declined to comment.
