Anthropic's $900 Billion Valuation vs. Walmart's $1 Trillion: What the Numbers Actually Mean

Scott Galloway opens with a striking comparison: Walmart, with $675 billion in annual revenue and $30 billion in operating profit, is valued at roughly $1 trillion. Anthropic, with an estimated $45 million in annual recurring revenue and projected losses of $14 billion in 2026, is reportedly seeking a $900 billion pre-money valuation. The gap is not evidence of a bubble in any simple sense—it reflects fundamentally different businesses with fundamentally different expectations baked into their stock prices.

How Valuation Works for Two Different Kinds of Companies

A stock price, Galloway explains, represents two things: the asset value of the company (land, intellectual property, loans) plus the present value of future growth. Walmart's valuation of roughly 1.5 times revenue and 34 times operating income is actually rich for a retailer. Its operating margin has climbed from 3.3% to 4.4% in recent years, and its strategy is built on operational excellence—constantly pushing down costs and passing savings to consumers, which widens the gap between perceived value and price, strengthening the value proposition and driving market share.