OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue was near $50 billion at the end of September, a figure below earlier estimates that helped send Nvidia, Oracle and other AI stocks lower on October 8, 2026.
The figure was roughly $18 billion to $20 billion below the $68 billion-to-$70 billion range that had circulated in recent weeks. Reports indicate the gap largely reflects different accounting methods rather than a sudden $20 billion loss in sales. OpenAI generally records its share of some transactions handled through cloud partners, while rival Anthropic’s figures include more of the gross sales made through those partners.
The disclosure rattled investors because OpenAI’s growth is closely tied to the massive spending plans of chipmakers, cloud providers and data-center companies. Nvidia fell about 3% during the session, while Oracle dropped nearly 6% and CoreWeave declined almost 8%; AMD, Broadcom, Intel and Super Micro Computer also fell. OpenAI’s investor presentation nevertheless showed strong momentum, including 77% growth in its overall revenue run rate during the third quarter and 107% growth in its enterprise business.
Subsequent reports said OpenAI still expects its annualized revenue to reach or exceed $70 billion by the end of 2026, making the September figure more a measurement issue and near-term growth challenge than a formal revenue reversal.