Understanding Run RateUnderstanding Run Rate In the context of extrapolating future performance, the run rate takes current performance information and extends it over a longer period. For example, if a company has revenues of $100 million in its latest quarter, the CEO might infer that, based on the latest quarter, the company is operating at a $400 million run rate. When the data is used to create a yearly projection for potential performance, the process is referred to as annualizing.