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Palantir Technologies (PLTR -0.58%) has already made the leap from controversial government contractor to one of the world's most valuable artificial intelligence companies.

Now investors are asking whether it can make another, much bigger leap. Could Palantir become the next trillion-dollar stock?

It's a question worth asking after the company's extraordinary second-quarter results. Revenue surged 93% year over year to $1.94 billion, and management raised its 2026 revenue outlook to roughly $8.15 billion, implying growth of about 82%.

Those numbers help explain why investors are even discussing a trillion-dollar valuation.

But there's a catch. Palantir is already worth roughly $400 billion. So the question isn't simply whether the company can become enormous. It's whether it can become enormous enough, fast enough, to justify today's stock price.

Image source: Getty Images.

The starting point is extraordinary Palantir's second-quarter results were difficult to ignore.

Revenue jumped 93% year over year to $1.94 billion, while U.S. commercial revenue soared 149% to $764 million. And this wasn't just revenue growth. Palantir reported a 62% adjusted operating margin in the quarter and generated more than $1 billion of GAAP net income. It also closed 220 deals worth at least $1 million, including 98 deals worth at least $5 million.

That's an unusual combination. Most companies growing this quickly are sacrificing profitability to fund expansion. Palantir is doing the opposite. It's growing rapidly while becoming more profitable.

That's exactly the type of business that can support an enormous valuation.

The commercial business could be the key to the trillion-dollar valuation For years, investors viewed the company primarily through the lens of its government business. That's changing.

U.S. commercial revenue is scaling rapidly, ending the quarter only about $45 million behind U.S. government revenue. If commercial customers continue adopting Palantir's software at scale, the addressable market becomes enormous.

And commercial software has another advantage: once a platform becomes deeply embedded in an organization, customers can expand their usage over time. In other words, Palantir can count on adding new customers and growing customer wallet share over time to sustain its revenue growth.

But $1 trillion requires much more than just great growth Here's where investors need to do some simple math.

Palantir's market value is roughly $400 billion today.  Reaching $1 trillion would therefore require the company to increase its value by roughly 2.5 times. That sounds manageable after watching the stock's extraordinary run of more than 600% in the last five years.

But here's the thing. While most investors focus on growth rate, valuation matters too.

Palantir expects to generate about $8.15 billion of revenue in 2026. A $1 trillion valuation against that revenue would represent more than 120 times trailing sales at the end of the year. That's up from a current ratio of 67 times trailing sales as of Aug. 17.

Obviously, investors won't be valuing Palantir against 2026 revenue forever. That's the entire point of investing in a growth company. But the real question is what revenue Palantir can produce several years from now.

If the market eventually values Palantir at 30 times sales, the company would need roughly $33 billion of annual revenue to support a $1 trillion valuation. At 20 times sales, it would need about $50 billion. The growth rates still have to support lofty price-to-sales ratios in the long run. For what it's worth, the highest P/S ratio among the "Magnificent Seven" stocks is 21.5x for Nvidia.  

Suddenly, the challenge becomes clearer. Palantir doesn't merely need to remain a great company. It needs to become much larger while remaining great.

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Another problem with the trillion-dollar thesis Palantir's valuation already assumes a lot of success. That means the company has less room for disappointment than a typical growth stock.

And there is another issue investors shouldn't ignore: international expansion.

Palantir's U.S. business is exploding, but international growth has been much slower. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that overseas revenue grew by less than 40%.

That's not necessarily a problem today. The U.S. market alone may provide years of growth. But a company approaching $1 trillion probably needs a compelling global opportunity as well.

If Palantir struggles to reproduce its U.S. success overseas, the long-term ceiling could be lower than the bulls expect.

So, can Palantir reach $1 trillion? I think there's a path for the company to reach that target, but I wouldn't call it the base case yet.

It needs several more years of unusually strong growth, followed by a gradual transition toward a much larger and highly profitable software business.

If Palantir can grow from roughly $8 billion of revenue today toward $30 billion-plus over the next several years, while maintaining exceptional margins and earning a premium valuation, the $1 trillion milestone becomes mathematically achievable.

But there's a big difference between possible and probable. At today's valuation, investors are already paying heavily for that future.

The Q2 earnings season continues to wind down, which has overall shown immense strength with outsized growth. There have been several standout releases during the Q2 earnings cycle, including those from Palantir (PLTR - Free Report) and Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) .

Palantir Earnings

Palantir’s overall revenue surged by 93% YoY to $1.94 billion, yet again reflecting another acceleration relative to recent periods. Huge top-line growth has been led by rock-solid demand, with Palantir closing $3.4 billion of total contract value throughout the period, jumping 49% YoY.

U.S. results came in notably strong, with U.S. commercial and government revenue climbing by 149% and 90%, respectively. Higher-value deals are also continuing to flow in at a rapid pace, with PLTR closing 73 deals worth at least $10 million throughout the period.

The company lifted its guidance across many metrics, now expecting FY26 revenue in a band of $8.150 - $8.158 billion, reflective of 82% YoY growth. U.S. commercial demand is also expected to remain red-hot, with PLTR upping the guidance to reflect 134% YoY growth.

Microsoft Earnings

Microsoft posted a double-beat relative to our consensus expectations, with sales growing by 18% YoY alongside 23% YoY growth in earnings. Most importantly, the mega-cap heavyweight delivered favorable Intelligent Cloud results, a key benchmark the market has consistently scrutinized amid the billions it’s been investing in AI infrastructure.

Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud results include Azure, its cloud computing platform that provides AI computing power to businesses. Intelligent Cloud revenue came in at $39.3 billion, beating our consensus estimate handily and growing 32% YoY. The growth rate here is mightily important from a sentiment standpoint, showing an acceleration relative to recent periods.

In this episode of Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing, Motley Fool contributors Tyler Crowe, Travis Hoium, and Lou Whiteman discuss:

Palantir's earnings and guidance.The case for model-agnostic AI.Caterpillar's incredible quarter.Is Spotify a growth stock or a value stock?To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. When you're ready to invest, check out this top 10 list of stocks to buy.

A full transcript is below.

This podcast was recorded on Aug. 4, 2026.

Tyler Crowe: Palantir takes shots at OpenAI and Anthropic today on Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. Welcome to Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. I'm your host, Tyler Crowe. Today, I'm joined by longtime Fools Lou Whiteman, Travis Hoium, doing a little bit of mixing it up everyone's getting those last-minute summer vacations in before the kids got to go back to school. We'll probably see a lot of host shuffling and guest shuffling over the next couple of weeks.

We are deep in earnings season, and we had three really big earnings reports today, a lot of contrasting things going on in the market. We want to start today with Palantir because, as we're recording, shares are up 26%. The company reported earnings after the close yesterday that beat expectations handily. They increased guidance. Everything looked pretty good. Now, there's been a lot of beat expect earnings so far this season, guys, but I have yet to see one that's really resulted in the market celebrating like we have seen with this one. What exactly was it about Palantir's earnings?

Lou Whiteman: They just blew it out of the park. They just had fantastic results. This is a company with a lot of hubris, and sometimes the hubris is justified. Ninety-three percent year over year, top-line growth. If you want to look trailing 12 months, 79% growth, so this isn't an anomaly, 51% cash flow margins. That's fantastic. The question forever here has been, there's no way you can justify the valuation here if it's a defense contractor. For all our jokes about the Pentagon budget, the Pentagon just doesn't spend money at the rate needed to justify Palantir's valuation. Commercial had been the laggard, but commercial was up 150%. This is exactly what you want.

Travis, I'm curious, what do you think? I can squint and maybe see remaining performance obligations were flat? So maybe that might be a dent, but even then, commercial is different than government, so that could be an adjustment, but I don't know. Tell me what's wrong here? This is just fantastic.

Travis Hoium: It's hard to quibble with any of the numbers. It is always hard for me to wrap my head around a company that's trading for 60 times sales because it's been over 100 times sales in the past year, so that typically does not end well for investors. But if you compound your revenue at 100% year over year for multiple years, it takes that multiple down pretty quickly. That's part of what we're seeing is just they are executing on exactly what the market has been pricing in for quite a while. As the shares have pulled back over the past few months, maybe we are going to see a little bit of a slowdown, and then they went, You know what? No, we're going to accelerate that revenue growth. Hard to quibble with anything.

Lou said the biggest number that jumped out to me: its 150% jump in U.S. commercial revenue. Customers aren't growing that quickly, so that means that the customers they do have are spending more. That's impressive because it shows that they're not just testing it out and going, Nah, we're not seeing any value here. They're actually saying, You know what? We want more from you guys.

Tyler Crowe: I think it's fair to say that CEO Palantir Alex Karp is a bit of an acquired taste for investors. Some people absolutely love him, some people might find him a bit off-putting with bombastic language, sometimes a little bit more aggressive and combative than a lot of other CEOs that you see in the market. You see it in his shareholder letters. You see it on the conference call, and he did use that aggressive language a little bit when talking about the large language model developers like OpenAI and Anthropic.

But I think he did get at a core point that he was talking about, and something that I think companies are really going to be thinking about, and it could really determine a lot of what happens in this AI race lately. It's the building model agnostic AI tools, similar to what Palantir does, versus these models that OpenAI and Anthropic are doing that end up in some sense, building competing tools from their own customers after they've built a lot of their own data.

One of the questions I have is does he have a point, and does that really bode well for the future of Palantir where they can make this argument that says, Hey, do you not want OpenAI and Anthropic taking your data and building your own competitor while you feed them their data? Come to us. Is that a valid sales argument or is that just being defensive?

Travis Hoium: It's all of the above. It's their sales argument. He's talking his book, he's talking their business model, and he's trying to sell to customers and you see similar things from Satya Nadella at Microsoft. But the way that he's talking about this, I just want to quote from the shareholder letter. "The models have grown and thrived by essentially ingesting the entire written work product of our civilization and those models, as well as their creators now have their site set on global industry. We have been the beneficiary of the revolt that is underway against submission of this way of working." That is basically declaring war against Anthropic and OpenAI. That is what Karp is doing here, and it's fascinating to see these business models play out because everybody is trying to win this AI game. That's what we've got to watch. Who is actually going to get the customers, who's going to get the revenue, who's going to generate free cash flow? Palantir is making their case, and they're making a pretty good one.

Lou Whiteman: You can always tell the CEOs who are classics majors, can't you? Stuff like that. Look, one read on this is he's worried that those models can do what Palantir can do, and this is actually a sign of weakness. I don't know if that's the case. I think you can make the case either way that the frontier models strengthen Palantir, or they are a threat. The thing that strikes me, though, is we know Palantir valuation. We know what Anthropic hopes to get and what OpenAI. Can they all exist together? Is there a zero-sum game here or a less-than-whole game? I feel like at some point, something has to flinch, and Palantir does have the advantage, I guess, with their installed base.

Tyler Crowe: And to that point, too, Travis, you were talking Satya Nadella, talking about competing models and a lot of this. One of the things that he had mentioned in previous discussions, conference calls, whatever, is basically custom tailoring the type of model that you need and custom fit to what the actual particular task is. Where we're using these generic, most powerful models in the world that cost a ton of money to, I don't know, organize your calendar, isn't exactly like the best use of resources and stuff like that. It'll be interesting to see the resource allocation, and I think that might be where they all make sense because they can fit a certain resource allocation for a business. Maybe we're less expensive, but we don't take on the biggest tasks sort of thing. That's how this works in a world where everyone works in some way or another versus having only one winner in this open eye race. But speaking about OpenAI, we’re going to talk about one of the pick-and-shovel companies that’s doing spectacularly well. That's Caterpillar, after break.

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Tyler Crowe: Moving on to other companies that are reporting earnings recently and doing incredibly well, it was Caterpillar. Earlier today, Caterpillar posted expectation-smashing results this past quarter, and the stock is up about 5.6 on the news as a result. It was up almost 10% in early morning trading. There was a lot to like here. I was looking through it, earnings across all of its segments were up. It looks like everything's doing incredibly well. Was that all the driving force? What were some of the things I might have missed when I did my first class, guys?

Travis Hoium: I think the big thing here is that when you're spending $1 trillion on building out data centers, there's a lot of demand to go around. I don't know if Caterpillar is the second derivative of the AI trade or the third derivative, but it is definitely downstream of all that spending that's going on because that infrastructure is a lot of physical stuff being built, and that's what Caterpillar does. The big thing that it was construction equipment that was up 35% from a year ago, but power energy and resources also did well. The crazy thing is you can think about this all as one big trait because these are all related things. The fact that energy is doing so well is because AI is doing so well. I don't know what to take from this lob besides the fact that just all this is like a huge rising tide that's lifting all of Caterpillar's boats.

Lou Whiteman: I think that's it, let's talk about why because obviously you don't buy a new dirt mover for each data center. You don't like, for every one of these things, we're going to buy all new equipment. But it's a lot like what John Deere with the farmers. We tend to see spending go up when it's a good year on the farm because the farmers are flush with cash, it's when they can. Similarly, with all of this demand, all these orders, this is causing the customers of Caterpillar to feel confident enough to place orders, to invest in their business. I think that's why you see the strength in construction. It wasn't just in the power systems. It wasn't just one thing. This is just the net impact of all of this cash, all of this investment going into the sector that they serve. showing itself in confidence to order heavy equipment. They boosted their full-year guidance, and they had a record equipment backlog. The backlog is a CAT, always something to watch because, again, you get a lot of orders when things are good, and then you see how long it lasts. But assuming that we don't stop building data centers, this is, again, just filling the industry they serve with cash, and you are going to see companies invest in their businesses when they can.

Tyler Crowe: So something it seems like we're kind of dancing around here, and we all know it is that Caterpillar is a cyclical business. Mining is doing really well. Orders go up. But all the end markets are very cyclical, power, construction, all of these things. My question is, obviously, AI is a big part of that cycle. Also there's some other aspects as well. We were talking before the show the idea of deglobalization and critical mineral mining, where it's being more localized and not dominated on a global scale, where you might see a lot not typically redundant wouldn't normally happen in a globalized world, but you're going to have a little bit more like redundant supply of construction materials because everyone wants to mine their own stuff and stuff like that. I don't know how big that is, but it's certainly something to be playing the part here.

My question is, we know it's cyclical, but could this just be an elongated cycle? Because it seems like normally with Caterpillar, one segment's doing relatively well, where its other end markets are weaker, but right now we're in a point where all three segments are posting great results.

Lou Whiteman: Look, this is why investing is hard. We can see something that looks obvious, but good luck getting the timing right. Should we do a shout-out or maybe someone check in on Michael Burry this morning? Because I agree with everything he's been saying about how it's all overvalued. But two of his biggest shorts were Palantir and Caterpillar. The timing is everything. Caterpillar right now feels like a microcosm for the entire market. It's cyclical. It's up 100% in a year. All of the signs are saying yeah, and it keeps working anyway. It will until it won't, and that's what makes investing hard.

Travis Hoium: The word that comes to mind is super cycle, and this is just part of that super cycle. All of that money that's flowing from those giant Silicon Valley companies is flowing to companies like Caterpillar. The question is, when does it stop? Or when does it even slow down? That's something that I've been thinking a lot about is, as long as capex is growing for these data centers, as long as there's more demand for power, more demand for minerals, all of these things are going to do extremely well. But what happens when growth flatlines or heaven forbid falls? That's when paying 38 times earnings for a company like Caterpillar is going to be really rough for investors. But we're not seeing it yet.

Tyler Crowe: It's not the most recent example, but certainly I think we can all remember, like the 2010, China's economic development growth boom, seven pot eight 9% annually was sending companies, mining companies, Caterpillar, companies like this to soaring heights because of demand was just voracious. But the minute we started to see a slowing Chinese economy and the slowing of the construction cycle, I would assume, like, yeah, 15, 16 years ago was the last, like, real super cycle with a lot of this stuff. It'll be interesting to see if this deglobalization in AI trade becomes the next big supercycle for these particular markets. Coming up after the break, one company that didn't do quite as good on the earnings perspective that's Spotify.

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Tyler Crowe: The three companies that we're talking about here today, Spotify's earnings were definitely one of these things is not like the other results. The company reported earnings after the close yesterday, and as we're right now, shares are relatively flat, but they were down quite a bit in early morning trading. The market seems to be doing it a little bit of a favor here. Now, Spotify hit some significant user milestones, total daily average users and things like that were way up, and margin expansion was exceptionally good, but it did miss expectations for revenue and earnings per share. Travis, I know you followed this company pretty intimately. Was this just some quarterly blip, or is this a trend in decelerating revenue and earnings?

Travis Hoium: This is what happens when a company goes from growth mode to we're now a mature company. The expectations are different, and the question is going to be, what do investors expect from the company? And then what are the investors that are going to be excited about that? Spotify grew their total monthly users by 12% year over year. This is a company that has 777 million monthly active users. That is a massive number. They're also continue to grow their premium revenue, 15%, but this is not going to be a company that's going to grow 20-plus percent year over year, like it maybe was a handful of years ago. You're going to be more focused on things like margins and free cash flow. That's not necessarily as exciting.

That said, management thinks that they can continue to grow their compound annual growth rate in that mid-teens range and get to a 20% operating margin. That's a pretty darn good business, the question is, what are you going to pay for it, and that seems to be the battle for investors today is a little bit like Caterpillar. If this is going to be just a mature cash-generating business, what do you pay for it? Is 31 times earnings the right number? Maybe it is, but you're going to have to decide what do you expect as an investor? Are you growth investor or a value investor?

Lou Whiteman: I'm always amazed when they find more people that don't have the service that they can add that way. Good on them for that. But Travis, I think you have it exactly right, is that sometimes with stocks, the stock isn't the problem. The investor base is that this is a fine company, but it is more mature than it used to. It's unlikely to be the growth story it was. It may take time for the investor base to just switch out, and that's going to cause volatility. I think it is a free cash flow store, and I think it has a great story to tell. I think it's a really attractive income/growth hybrid investment from here, but it is going to be a different story than it was. I don't think you're going to see the growth-focused crowd saying “Wow” to these results. That doesn't mean it was a bad quarter, though.

Tyler Crowe: This sounds similar to the conversation we've been having here on some Motley Fool Live events around, like Netflix, as well as, who is the investor anymore? Because these growth stories that all of a sudden are transitioning to, we're still growing just not at these nosebleed level growth that we had been putting we're now profitable. We're throwing off quite a bit of cash, it changes the type of investor that gets involved in these sort of companies. I don't want to prefaces of saying like, Spotify is a bad company now, it's just a different company into a different phase of its life. When I look at it, it's a solid company. It's generating a lot of free cash flow. Revenue right now high single digits. Maybe you're going to get low double digits on a growth surge, maybe a pricing increase. It's still a very quality business. But is that a company that merits 32 times, 33 times earnings? That's the question here. On that daily user growth, part of me almost says, "Is there no more worlds left to conquer?" Yes, it's growing, but it's become the dominant market share. As to lose point, like, who isn't using this service at this point?

Lou Whiteman: Funny, I'm not, so Spotify, call me. But I get it thrown in with my phone service. I guess there are at least one more world to cover. But Tyler, I think you're exactly right. I will say, shout-out to Spotify, because I think there's a better case here than there is for some. I'm going to get nasty letters, but Starbucks and some of these companies. I just think good company, bad stock. I think this is still a stock that works because I think it is a hybrid growth. I think they do have some levers to pull, but, yeah, I think that's it. That probably two things can be true here. It's still a good investable stock, but the valuation might need adjustment from here.

Travis Hoium: Yeah, 30 times earnings isn't crazy for a company that can continue to grow in the mid-teens. But I think you're right. How do you grow the business from here, and it's going to be a balance of how do you price a product where you have basically saturated the market? You're playing this game of do we want more monthly active users, or do we want a higher price per user? Because there is some elasticity in that market. You have competition from products like YouTube.

I think what we've learned with Spotify over the last few years is they're not going to be the next Google, for example, we're just going to keep tacking on new product after new product, add YouTube, add Waymo. Their ad product stinks that basically didn't grow year over year. That’s not a huge driver of their growth. Their video, I don't think is what they thought it maybe could be. It's just a solid business. It's just the kind of service that I'm going to sign up for and pay for for the next decade. As my kids get older, they'll eventually graduate into buying their own accounts. That's a good business. It can be fine for investors at 30 times earnings. I don't think it's a steal. If they ever get to the point where it's so cheap that they decide that they're going to buy back a whole bunch of stock, it could be really interesting, but this is going to be a little bit more ho-hum for investors, and a lot of times, that's not going to get a lot of headlines for you.

Tyler Crowe: It'll be interesting to see how you're saying that mid-teens growth, it's definitely worth playing. But as we were saying, not quite there yet, but there are some levers to pull, maybe fixing around the margins, ads, maybe figure out video. These are new initiatives, and some things aren't always perfect execution all the time. There is a path there, but not quite in the cards yet. A last question before we get out of here, guys, of the three companies we talked about today, Palantir, Caterpillar, Spotify, I think, based on what I've heard, I've gotten a good idea, which of these three companies is most attractive to you right now?

Lou Whiteman: If I was to buy one today, it would probably be Spotify, but I don't know if I really want to jump into any of these three.

Travis Hoium: I agree. It's the one that I own. It's the one where I can actually wrap my head around the valuation, and it's not as cyclical. It's more that I am not really interested in buying Palantir or Caterpillar today.

Lou Whiteman: Just so we're not boring, if it's a long enough time horizon, I'll take CAT. 

Tyler Crowe: We've got them on record, everyone, so you can lambast them in emails and comments later, and we'll figure that out from there.

As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. All personal finance content follows Motley Fool editorial standards, and it's not approved by advertisers. Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. To see our full advertising disclosure, please check out our show notes. Thanks for producer Dan Boyd and the rest of The Motley Fool team for Lou, Travis, and myself, thanks for listening, and we'll chat again soon.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) shares are trading higher on Thursday as risk-on appetite lifts AI-linked software names. The move also tracks lingering optimism around the company’s recent surge in U.S. commercial and government demand.

Palantir Technologies stock is building positive momentum. What’s driving PLTR shares up? What Is Driving Palantir’s Recent Surge?The latest narrative still centers on Palantir’s strong second-quarter backdrop, including 93% revenue growth and $1.22 billion in operating cash flow, alongside U.S. revenue growth of 115% to $1.57 billion.

U.S. commercial revenue grew 149% to $764 million, while the company’s government-AI positioning stayed in focus after the Pentagon’s Maven Smart System was described as supporting thousands of strikes against Iran and becoming the military’s primary AI operating system in March.

Management Speaks on Unprecedented AI Growth and Commercial ExpansionDuring last week’s earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp highlighted that the unprecedented momentum across their U.S. commercial division stems directly from AIP bootcamps, which allow enterprise clients to convert prototype concepts into production-ready software in days rather than months.

Karp noted that demand in the domestic commercial market has expanded at a rate unlike anything in the company’s history, establishing Palantir as an indispensable operating system for modern business operations.

Alongside corporate growth, Palantir’s entrenched positioning within defense and intelligence frameworks continues to solidify its revenue foundation.

Chief Financial Officer David Glazer emphasized during the call that high-margin top-line expansion is driving exceptional cash generation, giving management the confidence to raise full-year guidance while maintaining strong operating discipline.

Palantir Stock: Key Levels To WatchPalantir is stretched above its trend gauges, trading 23% above its 20-day SMA ($143.31) and 15.9% above its 200-day SMA ($152.15), which often raises the odds of a cooldown or a sideways base rather than a straight-line continuation. The shorter-term structure remains constructive with the 20-day SMA above the 50-day SMA, but the death cross from February (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA) is a reminder the longer-term trend only recently turned back up.

RSI is the cleaner momentum lens right now at 71.28, which signals the stock is in overbought territory and can be more vulnerable to sharp pullbacks or choppy consolidation if buyers pause. If momentum does keep pressing, traders will likely watch whether price can hold above recent breakout areas rather than giving back the bulk of the post-June rebound.

Key Resistance: $187.50 — a nearby ceiling where upside attempts can stall, sitting between current price and the $207.52 52-week high zone Key Support: $148.00 — a key area to defend, near the stock’s rising intermediate trend region and a level where buyers previously stepped in Palantir Technologies Benzinga Edge ScorecardBelow is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for Palantir Technologies, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:

Momentum: Bullish (Score: 74.08) — The stock is showing strong relative strength, consistent with its sharp move above key moving averages. Value: Bearish (Score: 1.98) — The market is pricing in a lot of future execution, leaving less room for error if growth expectations cool. Growth: Bullish (Score: 96.39) — Growth factors are a major tailwind, aligning with the company’s recent acceleration in U.S. commercial and overall revenue trends. The Verdict: Palantir Technologies’ Benzinga Edge signal reveals a classic High-Flyer setup, with growth and momentum doing the heavy lifting while valuation remains the clear trade-off. For longer-term holders, that mix often works best when the stock can consolidate above support and then resume higher, rather than extending further while already overbought.

PLTR Stock Price Movement TodayPLTR Stock Price Activity: Palantir Technologies shares were up 1.47% at $173.55 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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After Palantir Technologies (PLTR -0.17%) delivered an impressive second-quarter earnings report last week, the stock market rewarded its success with a big share price move. Palantir stock is up more than 35% over the last week, and its market cap has grown by more than $115 billion since July 31.

Those gains have analysts from Citi, Northland Securities, Mizuho Securities, and more upping their price targets, and some project that the data analytics company's shares could rise by nearly 50% over the next year. But Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management, isn't waiting around. Her asset management firm's family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have sold $21 million worth of Palantir stock since the company's Aug. 3 earnings report.

Why is Wood taking profits now? I believe it says a lot about her overall strategy.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood. Image source: Getty Images.

Taking profits Wood began moving shares the day after the earnings report that wowed the market. Palantir's shares had jumped by 29% in a single day, so Wood's decision to take profits was well-timed.

Five of her ETFs sold off just over $21 million in Palantir stock over three days.

Fund

Market Value of Shares Sold Aug. 4, 2026

Market Value of Shares Sold Aug. 5, 2026

Market Value of Shares Sold Aug. 6, 2026

Total Market Value of Shares Sold Aug. 4-6

Ark Innovation Fund

$4.8 million

$6.1 million

$583,200

$11.48 million

Ark Next Generation Internet ETF

N/A

$1.6 million

$2.9 million

$4.50 million

Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF

N/A

$2.7 million

$191,700

$2.89 million

Ark Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF

$1.2 million

$200,700

N/A

$1.4 million

Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF

N/A

$747,700

$79,200

$826,900

Data source: cathiesark.com. 

While that's a lot of shares, it was only a small percentage of the amount of Palantir stock in Wood's ETFs. Ark still holds $451 million in Palantir stock, making it the fifth-largest holding in her portfolio. The stock makes up 3.5% of Ark Invest's holdings.

Buying and selling is par for the course at Ark Ark's portfolios are actively managed, and Wood moves in and out of positions all the time. (She made more than 50 trades on Aug. 6 alone). Wood is known for her focus on companies pursuing disruptive innovation, primarily in technology, medicine, and finance, and her ETF's portfolios include many companies working in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, blockchain, and space exploration.

She also often rebalances her portfolios by trimming outsize positions. While Palantir isn't a megacap stock, it posted mammoth gains over the last week, making it a good candidate for trimming.

And thanks to the 25% one-day gain following Palantir's earnings report, Wood was able to take sizable profits that she could redeploy toward other opportunities that she believes are undervalued. Among the numerous stock purchases Ark made last week were Space Exploration Technologies, Cerebras Systems, Block, and Coinbase Global.

However, I think Palantir has much more short-term and long-term potential than any of those companies. SpaceX is one of Wood's favored holdings right now, with the second-greatest weighting in her company's ETFs. But shares of Elon Musk's company will likely be highly volatile as it invests heavily in data centers and AI infrastructure to build out its fledgling business.

I would much rather keep my money in Palantir and its highly successful AI-powered software platform, which the market is cheering for right now.

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Palantir's disruptive AI is changing how companies work There are few companies as disruptive as Palantir, which is teaching its customers how to best incorporate AI into their systems to make them more productive. Palantir's ontology system creates a digital twin of a client's operations for its AI to review, analyze, and recommend improvements.

"I think strategically what's really interesting to watch ... was they're not only helping their customers modernize their data, but they're actually helping customers kind of optimize and choose the best model," Tyler Radke, a senior equity analyst at Citi, said in an interview on BNN Bloomberg last week.

Palantir closed $3.37 billion in total contract value in the second quarter alone, signing 220 million-dollar deals, with 73 of those valued at least $10 million. That helps explain how its U.S. commercial revenue grew 149% in the second quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of more than 100% revenue growth for that segment of the business.

Wood's philosophy works for her. But Palantir still has a long road ahead, and I think she's leaving money on the table by selling the stock now.

Palantir Technologies' (PLTR -0.37%) share price soared after the company delivered another quarter of exceptional revenue growth and continued improvements in profitability. CEO Alex Karp described the quarter as "otherworldly" in the company's earnings release, and investors sent the stock higher on the news.

There's no doubt that Palantir has produced phenomenal financial results, helping drive its valuation higher. However, investing is far more focused on what's ahead for a company. Palantir will have to continue delivering very strong quarterly earnings reports to keep pushing the stock higher from here.

Image source: Getty Images.

What will it take for Palantir stock to keep climbing? As Karp put it in his letter to shareholders, "Our business is compounding at a rate and scale that we have never before witnessed." Indeed, Palantir's 93% revenue growth was bolstered by even better growth among U.S. commercial customers (149% growth) and strong U.S. government sales (90%). Just as important, adjusted operating margin expanded to 62% from 60% in the prior quarter, indicating there's still plenty of leverage in scaling the business.

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Palantir also increased its full-year guidance, with revenue expected at $8.154 billion at the midpoint. That's up from the $7.656 billion management previously guided for. The confidence to raise guidance may come from strong net revenue retention, which came in at 157%, up from 150% in the first quarter. That signals that existing customers continue to spend more each quarter, which can drive significant revenue growth at Palantir's scale.

There's little doubt Palantir will continue to produce excellent operational results. The problem is, everyone already knows this. As a result, the stock trades for a very lofty valuation. The company's enterprise value is more than 45 times management's revenue guidance for 2026. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio sits around 100.

Those multiples will have to compress over time as growth eventually slows down. Management is already forecasting a slowdown in revenue growth in the back half of the year. Palantir's Rule of 40 score of 155 from the past quarter may represent its peak going forward.

Expectations are high for Palantir. That doesn't mean the SaaS stock can't meet those expectations. But for Palantir to deliver market-beating results over the next few years, it will have to exceed expectations. That's especially true given that its lofty valuation also means any disappointment in the company's future results could lead to a massive adjustment lower in the share price.

After the recent increase in price, there's even less room for error. I'd wait for another pullback in the stock before buying it.

Adam Levy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Just a few months ago, it seemed like every piece of good news pushed Palantir Technologies (PLTR +10.32%) stock lower.

The company kept reporting strong results. Demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) software continued to accelerate. Yet investors remained unimpressed. But something changed recently. After another blockbuster earnings report, Palantir stock surged rather than sank.

That doesn't necessarily mean the correction is over. But it may be the market's first signal that investor sentiment is beginning to change.

Image source: Getty Images.

It wasn't just a great quarter, but how the market reacted to it Palantir's second-quarter results were outstanding by almost any measure.

Revenue surged 93% year over year to $1.9 billion, while U.S. commercial revenue jumped 149% as more enterprises adopted its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). Management also raised its full-year revenue guidance again, now expecting approximately 82% growth in 2026. Those numbers suggest the company's momentum is still accelerating, not slowing.

But here's what caught my attention: for months, investors responded to good news with skepticism. Strong earnings weren't enough because many believed the stock had simply become too expensive.

This time, the market reacted differently. Instead of focusing on valuation, investors rewarded Palantir's execution with a roughly 25% surge in its share price following the earnings release. That shift may be more important than the earnings themselves, as it may signal a change in investors' perception of the stock.

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Why the shift in investors' sentiment matters Experienced investors don't just study financial results. They also study how the market responds to those results. When great earnings fail to lift a stock, it often signals expectations are still too high. That was the situation that Palantir had been facing in the last few quarters.

But when the same kind of earnings suddenly trigger a strong rally, it can suggest much of the pessimism has already been priced in. That's not a guarantee the bottom is in, since share prices rarely move in straight lines.

But it can be an early sign that sellers are becoming exhausted and buyers are beginning to regain conviction.

In other words, the biggest change after Palantir's latest earnings wasn't necessarily the business. It was investor behavior.

The business continues to strengthen The market's reaction would mean very little if the underlying business were deteriorating.

Fortunately for shareholders, the opposite appears to be happening. Twelve months ago, investors were still debating whether enterprise demand for Palantir's AI platform would prove durable.

Today, that's unlikely to be the focus. Commercial customers are adopting the platform at a faster pace, revenue growth has accelerated from 85% in Q1 to 93% in Q2, and profitability hit a new record.

What's more, Palantir demonstrates that a company can grow rapidly even though it is already a giant by all measures. CEO Alex Karp even hinted that this is probably just the beginning of its longer-term growth.

Still, that doesn't mean the stock is cheap The improving sentiment doesn't eliminate the biggest risk, that Palantir still commands a premium valuation as investors expect years of exceptional growth. For perspective , Palantir trades at a price-to-sales (PS) ratio of 66 times.

That's both the opportunity and the challenge. If the company continues delivering quarters like its latest one, today's valuation could eventually prove reasonable. But if growth slows materially, investors could once again question whether the premium valuation is justified.

In other words, the central debate on Palantir's stock is not whether Palantir has a great business. The evidence increasingly suggests it does. The real question is whether that business can continue outperforming the lofty expectations already embedded in the stock price.

What does it mean for investors? So, is the worst finally over for Palantir stock? No one can answer that with certainty.

On one level, investors' sentiment has clearly improved since the Q2 earnings result.

Still, one quarter is likely too short a time for investors to make a call on the arrival of a new trend. Besides, the stock still trades at a sky-high valuation.

But if Palantir continues delivering exceptional results -- and the market continues responding positively -- it could suggest the recent correction over the last few quarters was less the beginning of a prolonged decline, and more a healthy reset in expectations.

For long-term investors, that's the signal worth watching in the coming quarters.

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The GraniteShares 2x Long PLTR Daily ETF (NASDAQ:PTIR) is ripping higher this session as the market — and especially technology stocks like Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) — celebrated a weak jobs print that likely reduces the odds of a near-term rate hike by the Federal Reserve. This is especially important for stocks levered to the AI trade, as new compute requires enormous capex and therefore cheap debt. PTIR, a single-stock leveraged ETF that targets twice the daily return of Palantir shares, has had a fantastic week since Palantir reported blowout earnings on August 3rd, and today it’s up another 18%.

GraniteShares 2x Long PLTR Daily ETF (PTIR) Over the post-earnings window from August 3 through August 6, the fund gained 45%, and it is up 54% over the trailing week. This is a complex, single-stock-linked leveraged product distinct from a diversified index ETF. It seeks twice the daily performance of Palantir stock and resets that exposure at the end of each session, typically using total-return swaps on a cash and Treasury collateral base.

The mechanic matters. Because leverage is reset daily, returns compound off a new base each session, and over multi-day and multi-week horizons the fund’s performance drifts from a simple 2x of the underlying. Volatility decay works against holders during choppy stretches, which is why PTIR is best used as a short-term tactical instrument rather than a buy-and-hold vehicle. The trailing figures make the point plainly: PTIR is down 43% year to date and down 51% over the past year, even as Palantir itself is down only 12% year to date and 13% over one year. A supposed 2x fund lagging its underlying that badly over a year is compounding decay in action.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) Palantir shares are quoted at $169.42, up 9% today and 28% over the trailing week. The Q2 report reset the growth story. Reported revenue of $1.94 billion grew 92.83% year over year, with U.S. commercial revenue at $764 million, up 149%, and U.S. government revenue at $809 million, up 90%. GAAP operating income was $912 million, a 47% margin, and net income reached $1.06 billion.

Guidance did the rest of the work. Full-year revenue was raised to a range of $8.15 billion to $8.158 billion, implying 82% year-over-year growth, with adjusted free cash flow guided to $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion. Q3 revenue was framed at $2.160 billion to $2.164 billion. CEO Alex Karp did not undersell it: “Demand for AI sovereignty has now been unleashed… This quarter was otherworldly: our U.S. commercial revenue grew 149% year-over-year, our overall revenue grew 93% year-over-year, and our Rule of 40 score climbed to 155%.” The beat marks Palantir’s 10th consecutive earnings beat.

What the Move Actually Tells You Same catalyst, two very different payoff profiles. Palantir’s fundamentals reset higher on a 46% EPS surprise and a raised full-year outlook, and the stock repriced accordingly. PTIR converted that single-day repricing into an outsized daily return because it is engineered to double Palantir’s session move. That amplification cuts both ways, and the fund’s 51% one-year decline against Palantir’s 13.16% one-year decline is the receipt for how daily reset mechanics behave when the underlying chops around. Use the product for what it is: a short-window tactical bet on Palantir’s next session rather than a proxy for owning the stock.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

HomeStock IdeasLong IdeasTech 

SummaryI upgrade Palantir to Buy, as Q2 results provide strong medium-term revenue visibility and mitigate near-term AI commoditization risks.PLTR’s Q2 revenue growth (~19% sequentially) and raised full-year guidance ($8.15b) reduce downside risk and support consensus estimates through 2027.US commercial revenue acceleration (~149% YoY) demonstrates resilience against AI commoditization, while high net dollar retention (157%) underpins forward growth.International expansion remains a longer-term concern, but robust existing customer growth supports a 3–18 month Buy thesis despite elevated valuation (forward PS ~50x). Tom Werner/DigitalVision via Getty Images

I have been maintaining a Hold rating on Palantir (PLTR) since November last year, and the caution on deploying fresh capital was not as much the strength of the business as valuations. The

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Every prompt employees write, every workflow they automate and every business process they refine can reveal valuable insights about how a company operates. According to Palantir, that information could become just as valuable as the underlying data itself.

Palantir’s Warning: Your Competitive Edge Could Be at RiskTaylor delivered one of the strongest messages from the earnings call when describing what he considers an unfolding trend across corporate America.

“Companies are paying to give away their most important secrets, the very basis for their competitive advantage, ultimately contributing to the commoditization of their own businesses as their secrets become the training data embedded in the foundations of all future models,” he said.

Palantir argues the issue goes beyond simply protecting company data. It says businesses also risk exposing the expertise, workflows and decision-making processes that make them unique, making control over that information increasingly important as AI adoption grows.

That concern is becoming a key selling point for Palantir’s software.

Taylor said enterprises are increasingly demanding what the company calls “AI sovereignty”—an approach that allows businesses to retain ownership over the data, logic, actions and security behind their AI systems. As he put it, “An organization’s data is its treasure.”

Why Palantir Says Companies Are Changing Their ApproachChief Executive Officer Alex Karp said businesses are only now beginning to appreciate how much valuable information they may be handing over as they expand their use of AI.

During the earnings call, Karp argued that the value isn’t limited to the information companies store internally. It also includes the knowledge generated as employees interact with AI systems and refine how work gets done. He said businesses are realizing that this information “is probably more valuable than just the data in my enterprise.”

Later in the Q&A session, Karp said companies increasingly understand that they are “transferring their data, their prompts, the way they run their business, their expertise, to a third party,” adding that customers now want to better understand how they can keep greater control over that information.

Why Investors Should WatchFor Palantir, this isn’t just a philosophical argument. The Miami-based company reported 149% year-over-year growth in U.S. commercial revenue during the second quarter, with management arguing that more businesses are embracing its approach to keeping AI systems—and the valuable knowledge they generate—under their own control rather than relying entirely on third-party platforms.

Image via Shutterstock

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Palantir CEO Alex Karp says the company operates with a "miniscule and shrinking" sales team. John Lamparski/Getty Images Palantir CEO Alex Karp took a victory lap over the company's explosive growth, saying it managed to boost its commercial business using a "miniscule and shrinking" sales team.

In the shareholder letter accompanying Monday's second-quarter results, Karp said it was another case of Palantir ignoring the norms of growing a business.

"On a quarter-by-quarter basis, our US commercial business grew 28%. Such growth — indeed, such acceleration — gives the impression that what others might require a year or even longer to achieve, we can do in 90 days," Karp wrote.

"It must be noted that we have achieved these results with a minuscule and shrinking sales head count, another way in which we have discarded conventional wisdom in favor of our own, unique path," he added.

Palantir posted $1.9 billion in quarterly revenue globally, up 93% year over year, and $1.1 billion in profit. The company earned more in profit last quarter than it booked in total revenue a year earlier, Karp said.

US commercial revenue hit a record $764 million, a 149% jump from a year earlier and 28% growth from the prior quarter alone. Total US revenue reached $1.6 billion, up 115%.

He has put numbers to the sales claim before. On May's first-quarter call, Karp said Palantir had roughly 70 salespeople and that only seven of them really sell, work he said a comparable company would need 7,000 people to do. His May letter put annualized revenue per employee at $1.5 million.

Karp's comments reflect a growing trend in the AI world: the rise of so-called "Tiny Teams" — where companies use AI to do much of the work traditionally done by human employees, cutting both costs and head count.

Palantir's own head count is a more complicated case. Karp told CNBC in 2025 that he wanted Palantir to grow tenfold while reducing staff to about 3,600. The 2025 annual report instead listed 4,429 full-time employees, up 13% on the year.

Karp has distinguished Palantir's approach from outright job cuts. On the tech show TBPN in June, he said executives who boast that AI lets them fire much of their staff might as well sign up for "the Bernie Sanders manifesto."

Karp said the US commercial business, despite the growth, is still "just nascent."

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Georgia Hennessy You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Georgia is a fellow at Business Insider's London office.Before joining Business Insider, she worked at Japan's largest newspaper, The Yomiuri Shimbun, and interned at the Financial Times. She is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with a degree in Philosophy from the University of Birmingham. You can contact her via email at [email protected]

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Stock Market Week Ahead: Citadel, SpaceX, Palantir And This Key Market Signal

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These 7 Stocks Are Analyst Favorites For Magnificent Earnings Growth; Google Rebounds After Sell-Off Palantir Technologies (PLTR) topped Wall Street's second-quarter earnings and revenue targets as demand for its artificial intelligence software fueled a 12th straight quarter of accelerating revenue growth. Palantir stock popped as U.S. commercial growth also reaccelerated. Further, Palantir raised 2026 guidance for revenue, adjusted operating income, and free cash flow. Heading into the Palantir earnings report, analysts mulled how big…

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Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) will release its second quarter earnings report after the closing bell on Monday, Aug. 3.

Analysts expect the Aventura, Florida-based company to report quarterly earnings of 35 cents per share, up from 16 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Palantir’s quarterly revenue is $1.81 billion. It reported $1 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro.

On July 7, Palantir Technologies said it is expanding its presence in Mexico through a partnership with GNP Seguros, the largest insurer in the country.

Shares of Palantir gained 0.7% to close at $123.06 on Friday.

Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.

Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent period.

Considering buying PLTR stock? Here’s what analysts think:

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Key Takeaways Palantir will report Q2 earnings on Aug. 3, with earnings seen rising 118.8% and revenues climbing 80%.Government revenues are projected to rise 65.7%, while Commercial revenues are expected to jump 98%.PLTR trades far above industry valuation multiples despite a 22% share-price decline over the past year. Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR - Free Report) will report its second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 3, after the bell.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the to-be-reported quarter stands at 35 cents, indicating 118.8% growth from the year-ago reported quarter. The consensus estimate for total revenues stands at $1.81 billion, indicating 80% year-over-year growth. There have been no changes or revisions to analyst estimates lately.

                                                                Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company has a strong history of earnings surprises. Earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and matched it once, with an average earnings surprise of 11.6%.

PLTR’s Lesser Chance of Q2 Earnings BeatOur proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for PLTR this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

PLTR has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #2.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

PLTR’s All-Round Healthy Business Should be the Driver in Q2We expect a significant year-over-year improvement in the company’s top line in the to-be-reported quarter, driven by healthy business from existing and new customers, strengthening both the Government and Commercial segments.

The consensus estimate for Government revenues is pegged at $916.2 million, indicating 65.7% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for Commercial revenues is pegged at $892.1 million, suggesting 98% year-over-year growth.

PLTR Stock Experiencing PullbackPalantir shares have declined 22% over the past year and 15% over the past three months. This performance clearly indicates a pullback in the stock.

                                                              Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Based on trailing 12-month EV-to-EBITDA, PLTR is currently trading at 162.72X, way above the industry’s 10.66X. If we look at the forward 12-month Price/Earnings ratio, the company’s shares are currently trading at 67.27X forward earnings, well above the industry’s 26.51X.

Investment ConsiderationsPalantir continues to distinguish itself through rapid commercial adoption, expanding customer relationships, improving profitability, and disciplined execution. The company's Artificial Intelligence Platform is gaining traction across enterprises, while larger contracts and a growing customer base provide visibility into sustained long-term growth. At the same time, exceptional operating efficiency demonstrates that Palantir is scaling its business without compromising profitability. So, the recent share-price weakness appears to present a compelling opportunity for long-term investors. Despite near-term valuation concerns, Palantir's strengthening fundamentals support a Buy recommendation for investors seeking exposure to one of the software industry's leading AI growth stories.

Peer ViewPLTR’s competitive strengths are reflected in its financial performance. The company delivered 85% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2026, including an exceptional 133% increase in U.S. commercial revenues, while generating a 60% adjusted operating margin and a 53% GAAP net margin. Even leading AI software companies like Datadog (DDOG - Free Report) and Snowflake (SNOW - Free Report) struggle to match this combination of rapid expansion and profitability.

While DDOG and SNOW continue to benefit from AI demand, their growth rates remain significantly lower. By combining a durable software foundation with industry-specific expertise and superior execution, Palantir continues to separate itself from DDOG, SNOW and traditional enterprise software competitors.

Palantir (PLTR -6.10%) has minted many millionaires during the past three years. The artificial intelligence (AI) software company hovered near penny-stock territory in 2023 and is currently valued at about $125 per share. It used to trade for more than $200 per share at its all-time high, showing how much the stock has gained in recent years.

However, some investors may be concerned that most of the gains are in the past. The millionaire-maker stocks of yesterday aren't always the millionaire-makers of today. Palantir has some compelling fundamentals that suggest it can flip the script, but there are some meaningful hurdles new investors face.

Image source: Getty Images

Fundamental growth has been impressive Palantir operates a great business model that produces rising revenue and profit. Having the key metrics go up each quarter is the hallmark of stocks that steadily gain value over the long run. The first quarter featured 85% year-over-year revenue growth, with U.S. revenue more than doubling year over year.

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That's an important detail because most of Palantir's revenue comes from the U.S. government and businesses. The fact that U.S. revenue growth is outpacing overall revenue growth means that a rising U.S. segment will lift up the entire business in a meaningful way.

Palantir locks in long-term contracts, which result in high annual recurring revenue. Its AI platform is critical for governments and enterprises that use artificial intelligence to analyze and interpret data. It also lets companies create AI agents to perform various tasks autonomously.

More than 200 of its Q1 deals exceeded $1 million in value, with 47 of those deals being worth more than $10 million. Investors are bullish about Q2 earnings, which will come out in August, with company forecasts suggesting a sequential revenue jump.

The valuation leaves little room for error Even the bears will acknowledge that Palantir has a great business model, but at what price? This is the question that deflates some bullish narratives as the focus shifts from a rising business to a 138 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.

Net income more than quadrupled year over year in the first quarter, so it's possible that continued profit margin expansion could make the valuation more reasonable. Palantir wrapped up the quarter with a net profit margin just above 50%, and if the company can continue to maintain high top-line growth, its profit has more room to expand.

Full-year projections suggest that Palantir will maintain high revenue growth. A subscription model and strong customer relations with the largest governments and enterprises suggest that revenue growth can remain elevated beyond 2026. Still, the P/E ratio leaves little room for error.

Value investors may be concerned, but the recent dip has made the stock more attractive for growth investors who can wait a few years before selling their shares. It was only a few months ago when Palantir had a 600 P/E ratio, so a 138 P/E ratio looks more reasonable in comparison.

It's not turning $20,000 into $1 million If you're looking for a stock that can make you a millionaire, two things matter beyond a stock's fundamentals: the stock's market cap and how much you can invest.

Some stocks can turn $20,000 into $1 million within a few years, but they are extremely rare. Sandisk (SNDK -14.14%) achieved the feat last year before entering a correction, and while some stocks can do that in a few years, it is extremely rare. However, in most of those cases, it's a stock with a relatively small market cap that gets the job done.

If you can put only $20,000 into Palantir, it's not going to become a $1 million position. That would require a 50-fold return, and that performance would turn a $315 billion market cap into a $15.75 trillion market cap. Palantir isn't going to become more valuable than Nvidia (NVDA +0.42%), Apple (AAPL +1.02%), Microsoft (MSFT +1.15%), and Meta Platforms (META -0.06%) combined, so investors shouldn't count on that kind of return.

Palantir, however, does have a realistic shot at a $1 trillion valuation, which would imply more than a threefold return. That may not be enough for most people to turn Palantir into a millionaire-maker position, but portfolio diversification and time can eventually move you toward the seven-figure milestone.

Palantir Technologies PLTR shares plunged about 9% on Tuesday after gaining roughly 5% in the previous session, as investors locked in profits and reassessed risks ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings report due on Aug. 3.

The 5% bump had come after Oppenheimer reaffirmed its Outperform rating and maintained a $200 price target ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings report.

The stock was trading around $120 following the decline today.

The weakness came amid a broader selloff across artificial intelligence-linked technology stocks, with the Nasdaq 100 Index on track to enter correction territory as investors questioned whether massive AI spending will generate sufficient returns.

The technology-heavy benchmark fell 1.7% during Tuesday's session, putting it on course for a decline of more than 10% from its recent peak, the conventional definition of a market correction.

According to Bloomberg, it took only 38 trading days for the index to reach that threshold, compared with more than 100 sessions during its previous correction in March following the October 2025 record high.

As a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, Palantir was also caught in the broader technology retreat even as analysts remained optimistic about its long-term growth prospects.

The sharp decline also reflected a classic "buy the rumor, sell the news" pattern ahead of earnings, said Investing.com.

Investor sentiment was further dented after a Seeking Alpha analyst downgrade published on Monday evening argued that Palantir's valuation of roughly 38 times forward sales appeared difficult to justify amid concerns over slowing commercial revenue growth and signs that enthusiasm around AI capital expenditure is beginning to moderate.

The pullback adds to growing scrutiny over Palantir's premium valuation, despite the company's rapid revenue expansion and strong demand for its artificial intelligence software platform.

Additional pressure came from reports that prominent investor Michael Burry had increased his bearish position against the company ahead of earnings, drawing renewed attention to valuation risks.

Citigroup also reduced its price target on the stock to $200 from $225 earlier this week, citing multiple compression.

Recent insider transactions have also weighed on sentiment, including reports that Palantir's chief technology officer sold approximately $24 million worth of shares, while one company director disposed of more than $2 million in stock.

Analysts remain positive ahead of resultsDespite the recent weakness, Wall Street analysts continue to expect another strong quarter.

Oppenheimer said Palantir could exceed second-quarter revenue expectations and again raise its full-year guidance.

The brokerage expects continued demand for the company's AI software from both US government agencies and commercial customers.

Palantir heads into earnings after delivering record first-quarter revenue of $1.6 billion, an increase of 85% from a year earlier.

US commercial revenue climbed 133% to $595 million, while US government revenue rose 84%.

Management also increased its full-year revenue outlook to between $7.7 billion and $7.7 billion.

Analysts now want to see whether the company can continue expanding at a pace that supports its premium valuation.

Baird also reaffirmed its Outperform rating and maintained a $200 price target ahead of the earnings release.

The brokerage expects second-quarter revenue growth to accelerate for a 12th consecutive quarter, supported by continued strength across both the US Commercial and US Government businesses.

It noted that Palantir generated 68% revenue growth over the past 12 months while maintaining a gross profit margin of 84%.

Baird also expects estimates for both 2026 and 2027 to continue moving higher.

The firm said it is using $8 billion in free cash flow for 2027 as a reasonable upside scenario, compared with its current estimate of $6.7 billion.

While acknowledging recent volatility, Baird described the current consolidation as an attractive buying opportunity for investors seeking exposure to long-term AI growth.

The brokerage added that Palantir continues to grow into its valuation even as the broader technology sector experiences heightened volatility.

The market expects Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR - Free Report) to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.

The earnings report, which is expected to be released on August 3, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus EstimateThis company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +118.8%.

Revenues are expected to be $1.81 billion, up 80% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Palantir Technologies?For Palantir Technologies, the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0%.

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.

So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Palantir Technologies will beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Palantir Technologies would post earnings of $0.29 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.33, delivering a surprise of +13.79%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.

Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

Palantir Technologies doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

Expected Results of an Industry PlayerAmong the stocks in the Zacks Internet - Software industry, Automatic Data Processing (ADP - Free Report) , is soon expected to post earnings of $2.59 per share for the quarter ended June 2026. This estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +14.6%. This quarter's revenue is expected to be $5.43 billion, up 5.9% from the year-ago quarter.

Over the last 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for ADP has remained unchanged. Nevertheless, the company now has an Earnings ESP of +0.16%, reflecting a higher Most Accurate Estimate.

This Earnings ESP, combined with its Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggests that ADP will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate. The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR -0.30%) has been a cornerstone of the artificial intelligence (AI) trade for several years. Its stock price, despite dropping 30% year to date, has increased 1,800% since January 2023.

In a recent interview, Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, told Schwab Network, "Palantir may be the best company in the world. It's at least the best software company." He also explained that, while the stock remains expensive, the valuation is more attractive today than it has been in the past.

Earlier this month, Luria raised his target price to $175 per share. That implies 42% upside from the current share price of $123. However, most Wall Street analysts expect even larger gains. Palantir has a median target price of $200 per share, implying 62% upside. 

Image source: Getty Images.

Palantir's unique software architecture gives the company an edge Palantir develops analytics platforms that integrate data and apply artificial intelligence to help customers make better decisions. The company has differentiated itself with a unique software architecture. While most analytics tools focus on charts and tables, Palantir built its platforms around a decision-making framework called an ontology.

Think of the ontology as a digital twin. It connects data to real-world assets and processes, creating a single source of truth for an entire organization. By structuring information in a manner conducive to artificial intelligence, Palantir's ontology makes it easy for customers to surface insights and automate workflows.

Additionally, Palantir's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) is an agnostic large language model orchestration tool, meaning customers can apply any AI model to the ontology data. That distinguishes Palantir from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, whose products center on proprietary models rather than agnostic orchestration.

Luria says the market needs agnostic products, citing a recent U.S. government directive that forced Anthropic to temporarily suspend access to its Fable model. "So now companies know we need somebody like Palantir, where if something like that happens, they can swap in an OpenAI model or even an open-source model," he told Schwab Network.

Luria went on to say Palantir has always been a major player in the AI platforms market, but its role in that market is becoming even more important as the number of available models increases. "Most companies are in the very initial stages of trying everything to see what catches. But Palantir customers are using AI already to deliver results," he said.

Palantir has received praise from several independent research firms. Dresner Advisory Services has ranked the company as a leader in three market studies: artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning; model operations; and agentic AI. Likewise, Forrester Research has recognized Palantir as a leader in AI decisioning platforms.

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Palantir's impressive growth trajectory makes its rich valuation tolerable Palantir reported impressive financial results in the first quarter. Revenue increased 85% to $1.6 billion, the 11th consecutive acceleration, and non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings increased 153% to $0.33 per diluted share. The company also raised full-year guidance, now anticipating 71% revenue growth in 2026, up from 56% in 2025.

"Our financial results now demonstrate a level of strength that dwarfs the performance of essentially every software company in history at this scale," CEO Alex Karp told analysts on the earning call. "We are in a category of our own."

Looking ahead, Wall Street expects Palantir's earnings to grow at 56% annually through 2027. In that context, Palantir's current valuation of 128 times earnings is not cheap, but it is tolerable, especially given that the company has topped the consensus earnings estimate by an average of 15% over the last six quarters.

Luria's assertion that Palantir might be the best company in the world is rather bold. I'm not sure I'd go that far. Regardless, patient investors should consider buying a small position in the stock today.

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Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) has been down 29.92% year to date while the S&P 500 has gained 9.60%. But the one reason Palantir can beat the market from here is the same reason it has beaten it over five years: a Rule of 40 score of 145%, matched only by NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), and SK hynix.

Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Palantir is $162.35, implying 30.33% upside from $124.57. Recommendation: Buy. Confidence: high, at 90%.

24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $124.57 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $162.35 Upside 30.33% Recommendation BUY Confidence Level 90% Why Palantir Sold Off Despite Blowout Numbers Palantir sits 12% below its 52-week high of $207.52 and roughly 17% above its 52-week low of $106.37. Shares are down 6.87% in the past week.

Yet fundamentals keep improving. In Q1 FY2026, filed May 4, 2026, adjusted EPS of $0.33 beat the $0.2795 consensus by 18.07%, and revenue of $1.63 billion grew 84.71% YoY, extending the streak to eight straight EPS beats.

U.S. commercial revenue jumped 133% YoY to $595 million, and management raised FY2026 revenue guidance to $7.650 to $7.662 billion (71% growth). Over five years, PLTR is up 471.16%.

The Case for $200+ Our bull scenario projects PLTR reaching $203.55 in 12 months, a 63.4% total return. U.S. commercial acceleration anchors this path: remaining deal value ended Q1 at $4.92 billion, up 112% YoY, and TCV closed was $2.41 billion (+61% YoY).

Free cash flow more than tripled to $925 million, with FY2026 adjusted FCF guided to $4.2 to $4.4 billion. The Street consensus target of $183.12 sits between our base and bull cases.

The Risks Worth Watching PLTR trades at a trailing P/E of 150x and forward P/E of 91x, versus an implied model P/E of 131x. Our bear scenario lands at $142.36 (+14.29%), but broader multiple compression could retest the 52-week low.

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Stock-based compensation of $201.6 million in Q1 and government contract termination-for-convenience clauses are legitimate concerns. GAAP operating income of $754 million (46% margin) demonstrates genuine GAAP profitability, a mark most software peers cannot claim even after backing out SBC.

How Palantir Compares to Snowflake and CrowdStrike Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) is the closest data-platform peer, but the growth gap is wide: SNOW grew Q1 FY27 revenue 33.5% YoY and remains GAAP-unprofitable with an operating margin of -30.6%.

Palantir grew 84.71% at a 46% operating margin. Our $162.35 target looks conservative relative to what investors pay for slower, unprofitable data infrastructure.

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) offers a better valuation contrast. CRWD grew Q1 FY27 revenue 25.6% and carries a $192 billion market cap. Palantir’s $298.6 billion market cap is a premium, but with more than triple the growth rate, the multiple is defensible.

Hold Through the Volatility, Buy on Dips Verdict: Buy, with high (90%) confidence in the 24/7 Wall St. price target of $162.35. The Rule of 40 at 145% combined with FY2026 guidance raised twice already is the tipping factor.

The setup rewards investors who can tolerate a beta of 1.56 across a 12-month horizon. Investors unable to absorb another 30% drawdown may find the risk/reward less compelling. Growth this durable rarely stays this cheap for long.

Palantir Price Prediction 2026-2030 Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $162 2027 $189 2028 $217 2029 $243 2030 $266 These projections assume Palantir executes on U.S. commercial expansion and defends operating margins near 40%. Significant upside or downside could result from major government contract shifts or accelerated enterprise AIP adoption.

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Just a few months ago, investors couldn't get enough of Palantir Technologies (PLTR 1.57%). The company -- known for "big data" analytics -- was delivering record earnings, demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) software was surging, and the stock seemed unstoppable.

Fast-forward to today, and the mood has changed. Although the business continues to execute at a high level, Palantir's stock has fallen roughly a third from its peak. That naturally raises an important question.

Has this correction finally created a buying opportunity, or is the stock still too expensive?

Image source: Getty Images.

The business hasn't been the problem Most investors who focus only on Palantir's operating results will probably struggle to explain why the stock corrected so sharply. The company recently reported another outstanding quarter. Revenue for the period grew 85% year over year to $1.6 billion, while U.S. commercial revenue grew more than 130%, highlighting strong demand from businesses adopting its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP).

The quality of that growth is just as impressive. Unlike many fast-growing AI companies, Palantir is generating meaningful profits and strong free cash flow. Management has also continued to raise its revenue guidance, suggesting that demand remains healthy. In other words, the business is performing well. If anything, Palantir's business is stronger today than it was when the stock was making new highs.

Then why did the stock fall? Here's where many investors get confused. They assume a falling stock price means a weakening business. Sometimes that's true. But sometimes the business keeps improving while the stock falls. That's largely what happened with Palantir.

During the early AI boom, investors were willing to pay an extraordinary premium for companies they believed would dominate the next generation of enterprise software. Palantir was one of those companies. Eventually, however, Wall Street stopped asking one question: "Is Palantir a great company?" Instead, it started asking another: "How much is a great company worth?"

That shift in focus changed everything. Once expectations become exceptionally high, even excellent earnings may not be enough to push the stock higher. Investors simply become less willing to pay an unlimited premium for future growth.

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Has the correction made Palantir cheap? The recent pullback has undoubtedly made Palantir more attractive than it was at its peak. Investors today are paying less for the same business. That's a positive.

But that doesn't automatically make the stock cheap. Even after the correction, Palantir still trades at a huge premium multiple -- its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stood at 167 as of this writing -- which is significantly higher than many of the market's other AI leaders. For instance, Nvidia trades at a P/E of around 37. 

But here's the thing: A high P/E ratio doesn't necessarily mean Palantir is overvalued. It simply means investors expect Palantir to expand at hypergrowth rates over the next several years. They're paying today for profits they believe the company will generate tomorrow.

Having said that, it does mean the margin for error remains thin. If Palantir continues executing at an exceptional level, today's valuation could look reasonable. But if growth slows, investors may look back and regret paying up for the stock today.

What does it mean for investors? Palantir remains one of the most compelling enterprise AI companies in the market today. Its business continues to execute well. Commercial adoption is accelerating. And management has demonstrated that it can grow rapidly while generating meaningful profits.

The recent correction has certainly improved the investment case. But "more attractive" doesn't necessarily mean "cheap." For long-term investors, the real question isn't whether Palantir can grow. It's whether the company can grow fast enough to justify the premium investors are still willing to pay.

If you believe it can, then buying the stock today makes sense. If not, it's best to stay on the sidelines.

Palantir Technologies stock is trading near recent lows. Where is PLTR stock headed? Palantir, NVIDIA Bring AI to U.S. Sovereign EnvironmentsThe offering combines NVIDIA’s AI platform with Palantir’s AIP, Ontology, Foundry, and Apollo products, enabling government agencies to deploy models in classified and air-gapped environments while continually improving them based on mission-specific feedback.

Palantir, Surf Air Expand SurfOSThe expanded partnership builds on the successful commercial launch of BrokerOS and a recent multi-million-dollar contract with Wheels Up to serve as the launch customer for Enterprise BrokerOS.

Analyst Consensus & Recent ActionsThe stock carries a Buy rating with an average price target of $187.42. Recent analyst moves include:

DA Davidson: Upgraded to Buy (Raises Target to $175.00) (July 2) Wolfe Research: Upgraded to Peer Perform (June 16) Rosenblatt: Buy (Maintains Target to $225.00) (June 5) Palantir Shares Edge HigherPLTR Price Action: At the time of publication, Palantir shares are trading 0.02% higher at $133.75, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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Key Takeaways PLTR's Ontology organizes enterprise data into an operational framework that becomes more valuable over time.Palantir delivered 85% revenue growth, 133% U.S. commercial growth and a 60% adjusted operating margin.PLTR combines rapid growth and profitability, distinguishing it from AI software peers. Palantir (PLTR - Free Report) is increasingly distinguishing itself through an advantage that extends well beyond artificial intelligence models. At the heart of its platform is the Ontology, which organizes enterprise data into a connected operational framework that customers can continuously build upon.

Years of deployments across hundreds of organizations have created deeply integrated systems that are difficult and time-consuming to replace. This accumulated implementation expertise, strengthened by Palantir’s forward-deployed engineering model and long-standing government security credentials, makes the platform more valuable with every deployment.

Unlike AI developers that primarily compete on models, Palantir monetizes the operational layer where AI is applied, allowing its software to retain value even as foundation models become increasingly commoditized.

Palantir vs. AI Software PeersPLTR’s competitive strengths are reflected in its financial performance. The company delivered 85% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2026, including an exceptional 133% increase in U.S. commercial revenues, while generating a 60% adjusted operating margin and a 53% GAAP net margin. Even leading AI software companies like Datadog (DDOG - Free Report) and Snowflake (SNOW - Free Report) struggle to match this combination of rapid expansion and profitability.

While DDOG and SNOW continue to benefit from AI demand, their growth rates remain significantly lower. By combining a durable software foundation with industry-specific expertise and superior execution, Palantir continues to separate itself from DDOG, SNOW and traditional enterprise software competitors.

PLTR’s Price Performance & EstimatesThe stock has declined 27% year to date compared with the industry’s 5% fall.

                                                          Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, PLTR trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 33.13X, well above the industry’s 4.08X. It carries a Value Score of F.

                                                                    Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLTR’s 2026 earnings declined over the past 60 days.

                                                                       Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

PLTR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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Jim Cramer walked onto CNBC’s Mad Dash last week on Wednesday morning and turned on a company he has championed for years. The target was Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction), a stock he has repeatedly told viewers to own through every valuation panic since the AI trade caught fire. His complaint was about a company-produced NFT video that Palantir made, posted, and then quietly pulled. Cramer wants management to disavow it publicly before market close.

What Cramer Said Cramer opened by re-anchoring his bull case. “I’ve been a big supporter, Palantir, mostly because of what it does in real business, which is really help organizations get their act together,” he said. Then came the pivot. Reacting to a Financial Times piece examining Palantir’s political alignment with Republicans, Cramer zeroed in on the NFT video itself, calling it “one of the most frightening things I’ve seen” and describing it as “a Punisher-like video… on the site of the company made itself, which is subsequently pulled, that I found very disturbing.”

The line that will get replayed all day is his interpretation of the imagery. “It’s basically saying, listen, we’re Satan. Look out!” Cramer said. From a host who has spent two years defending Alex Karp’s leadership and Palantir’s growth story, that is a genuine break.

Why Reputational Risk Matters for a Stock Like Palantir Palantir sells Gotham, Foundry, and AIP to defense agencies, hospital systems, and Fortune 500 boards that require multi-year procurement cycles and internal champions willing to stake their reputations on the vendor choice. The fundamentals have been extraordinary. Q1 2026 revenue landed at $1.63 billion, up 84.7% year over year, with U.S. commercial revenue up 133% to $595 million, and management raised full-year guidance to roughly 71% growth (see the Q1 2026 press release filed with the SEC).

That is the growth profile of a company whose customers are still saying yes. Cramer’s warning is about the second derivative. “A board member might say… maybe we can’t use Palantir because… it shouldn’t be doing these kinds of videos,” he said. Enterprise procurement runs on soft signals as much as on software demos, and a single risk committee memo citing brand-safety concerns can freeze a nine-figure pipeline for a quarter.

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The stock is already wobbling. Palantir is down 3.6% in the past five trading sessions and off 23% year to date. At a trailing P/E of 144x and a price-to-sales ratio above 60x, this is a stock priced for perfect execution on both the product and narrative fronts.

What Palantir Did Cramer’s prescription was unusually direct. “They have to distance themselves from this. They have to do it today,” he said. A quiet takedown is not enough when a Financial Times feature is already in circulation, and CNBC’s most-watched personality is telling his audience the imagery evokes Satan.

Palantir indeed removed that video after Cramer’s warning.

The Palantir bull case has always rested on hard product wins and a founder-led mystique that made customers feel they were joining a movement. Movements attract iconography, and iconography can go wrong. The video did not spiral into a bigger deal due to its quick removal.

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Key Takeaways PLTR generated $1.3 billion in U.S. revenues during the first quarter of 2026, marking a 104% Y/Y increase.U.S. revenue growth accelerated from 55% in Q1 2025 to 104% in Q1 2026, highlighting strengthening demand.The sustained acceleration reflects rising adoption of Palantir's software. Palantir (PLTR - Free Report) continues to produce impressive financial results, but one metric deserves more attention than any other: U.S. revenue growth.

The company generated $1.3 billion in U.S. revenues during the first quarter of 2026, more than doubling from the year-ago quarter with a 104% increase. Delivering triple-digit growth at Palantir's current scale demonstrates that demand for its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), Gotham and Foundry remains exceptionally strong.

Even more encouraging is the consistent acceleration in this metric. U.S. revenue growth improved from 55% in the first quarter of 2025 to 68% in the second quarter, 77% in the third quarter, 93% in the fourth quarter, and 104% in the first quarter of 2026. Rather than slowing as the business expands, Palantir continues to gain momentum, driven by growing adoption across both public-sector and commercial customers.

Although investors often focus on profitability, valuation, operating margins and cash flow, Palantir's U.S. revenue trajectory may be the clearest indicator of its competitive strength. Sustained triple-digit growth in its largest market suggests the company is still capturing market share and that customer demand remains far from saturated.

As long as Palantir continues delivering robust growth in its U.S. operations, the company is likely to remain one of the most compelling long-term growth stories in enterprise software.

What's Fueling Palantir's U.S. Momentum?Several structural trends are driving the company's remarkable domestic growth.

Artificial Intelligence adoption remains the biggest catalyst. Organizations are increasingly deploying AI across mission-critical workflows, creating strong demand for Palantir's AIP platform, which enables customers to operationalize large language models while integrating them with enterprise data and existing business processes.

The commercial business has become another major growth engine. More private-sector companies are adopting Palantir's software to improve decision-making, automate operations and enhance productivity, resulting in a rapidly expanding customer base.

At the same time, government demand remains robust. Palantir continues to deepen its relationships with U.S. defense, intelligence and civilian agencies, benefiting from rising investments in AI-enabled national security, defense modernization and data analytics.

The combination of expanding government contracts and accelerating commercial adoption has created a powerful growth flywheel that continues to lift overall U.S. revenues.

Peer ComparisonTwo of Palantir's most prominent AI software peers are Snowflake (SNOW - Free Report) and MongoDB (MDB - Free Report) , both of which are benefiting from enterprise AI adoption, albeit through different business models.

Snowflake continues to expand its AI-powered cloud data platform, helping enterprises consolidate, manage and analyze large volumes of data. As companies invest more heavily in generative AI, demand for AI-ready data infrastructure should continue supporting Snowflake's long-term growth.

MongoDB is strengthening its position in AI-driven application development through its flexible developer data platform. The company enables enterprises to build scalable, modern applications capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated AI workloads, positioning it to benefit from ongoing software modernization initiatives.

While all three companies are capitalizing on the AI revolution, Palantir currently stands apart because of the extraordinary acceleration in its U.S. business. The company's ability to more than double domestic revenues while simultaneously increasing its growth rate underscores the strength of customer demand and reinforces its leadership position in the rapidly evolving AI software landscape.

PLTR’s Price Performance & EstimatesThe stock has declined 27.5% year to date compared with the industry’s 6.5% fall.

                                                              Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, PLTR trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 33X, well above the industry’s 3.98X. It carries a Value Score of F.

                                                                     Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLTR’s 2026 earnings has declined over the past 60 days.

PLTR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR 2.47%) was a retail investor darling in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The stock soared 2,670% during that period, despite Wall Street analysts suggesting the price was already too high for most of it. But the stock has taken a tumble since the end of 2025, dropping roughly 37% from its November 2025 all-time high amid the broader software-as-a-service (SaaS) stock sell-off.

Meanwhile, analysts have begun to take a fresh look at the company as it continues to deliver phenomenal revenue growth and earnings. In fact, despite a recent rally in the stock, the average Wall Street price target is significantly above the current price.

Image source: Getty Images.

How high can Palantir climb? Palantir continues to defy expectations with its revenue growth and improving profitability. Revenue accelerated once again in the first quarter, with its top-line climbing 85% year over year in the first quarter. It's showing particular strength in its U.S. business, and its backlog of remaining deal value shows strong momentum and a long runway for continue revenue growth. Overall, adjusted operating margin expanded to 60%. Management also raised its full-year guidance along with those earnings results.

The software business should continue to produce very strong operating leverage. Its research and development expenses fell to less than 10% of revenue in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the company has taken a strategic approach to sales, letting the software speak for itself for the most part. It has recently turned to boot camps to show companies and their employees how to use Palantir's software to improve operations, a move that has been extremely effective in driving customer acquisition.

Palantir seemingly has no equal to compare its software against. The threat of AI labs supplanting existing enterprise software at a lower cost seems even less likely for Palantir than for more basic software solutions. The core of Palantir is its ontology framework, which enables users to find meaningful connections between disparate data sets. The artificial intelligence built into Palantir's platform isn't easily replicated. As a result, Palantir should see high revenue retention rates.

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Execution and growth have never been a problem for Palantir. The biggest concern with the stock has always been its valuation. After the sell-off, the stock trades at 43 times next year's sales expectations and 93 times forward earnings. That's a huge premium over the market. Nonetheless, analysts think it's too cheap.

The median price target for Palantir stock on Wall Street is $200 per share. That price is roughly 54% above the stock's current price as of this writing. And if it reaches that price within 12 months, the stock would trade at roughly the same forward P/E as today, based on analysts' estimates. That suggests Wall Street sees a lot more growth to come for the business.

While management has produced excellent results over the last few years, there's only so long revenue and earnings can accelerate. When the slowdown arrives, the stock could take a hit. Whether you should buy Palantir today depends on whether you think the company can continue to efficiently attract new customers and expand its market at scale.