Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp appears in an interview with Bloomberg TV during the FoundryCon event in Palo Alto, California on March 7, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Palantir Shares rose 23% on Tuesday, heading for a record close after the data analytics software maker reported strong third-quarter results and issued an upbeat revenue outlook.
The stock hit a high of $51.19, above last week’s all-time high of $45.14. If the gains hold, it would be the biggest gain since February 6, when the stock soared 30%.
LSEG said sales rose 30% year over year to $726 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $701 million. Adjusted earnings per share were 10 cents, beating the average estimate of 9 cents.
“The beat was driven by a better-than-expected U.S. government performance” driven by demand for artificial intelligence tools, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a report.
“Palantir is one of the few infrastructure software companies that has begun to meaningfully monetize generative AI. Its competitive position is driven by years of investment and deep expertise in complex data integration, particularly its built-in ontology. It benefits from its reputation for data security,” said the analyst. I wrote.
Net income was $143.5 million, or 6 cents per share, compared to $71.5 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The company expected fourth-quarter sales of $767 million to $771 million. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected $741.4 million.
Palantir is targeting U.S. commercial revenue of more than $687 million this year, representing about 24% of the total.
Bank of America raised its price target to $55 from $50 and maintained a Buy rating.
Bank of America analysts said in a note to investors: “We are excited about the adoption of PLTR’s AI-enabled products as more companies realize the savings they can make in time, resources and costs. “We continue to look at that early reach.” “In our view, Palantir’s moat as a differentiated agnostic AI enabler will only grow as new use cases emerge with increasingly complex unit economics.”
—CNBC’s Jordan Nove and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
