Key Takeaways
- CEO Alex Karp took a victory lap after the company’s fourth quarter beat Wall Street estimates, showing strong revenue growth and record profits. It also guided 2026 revenue higher.
- William Blair raised its rating on the stock to “outperform” ahead of the earnings report release on Monday; Citi boosted its rating last month.
One of Wall Street’s most-polarizing tech stocks is having a moment.
Shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR) jumped Monday, rising as much as 9% in after-hours trading, after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report and revenue outlook for the coming year outstripped Wall Street estimates, showing that the company can deliver in the face of high expectations. Chief Alex Karp boasted about the AI software company’s record results, calling its “massive acceleration in growth” a “remarkable achievement” in a shareholder letter—and taking a jab at skeptics.
“We still remember, and will not soon forget, enduring for years polite yet firm questions about the potential profitability and indeed more fundamentally the wisdom of our approach,” he wrote in the letter.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU
While Palantir has been among Wall Street’s more polarizing tech stocks due to its high valuations, it has been a Main Street darling. Retail investors cheered the company on after it reported another good quarter of growth.
Palantir stock’s valuation had been a point of concern among Wall Street analysts after a torrid run-up since 2024 made its shares look “priced to perfection” in some eyes. However, a couple have come around, citing the company’s growth trajectory—as well as the fact that the stock had fallen about 30% from all-time highs seen late last year.
The company’s fourth quarter revenue of $1.41 billion exceeded Wall Street estimates of $1.34 billion, according to Visible Alpha a twelfth straight revenue “beat.” Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.25, above Street estimates for $0.23, the firm’s data show.
William Blair had raised its price target on the stock to a bullish “outperform” ahead of the company’s release on Monday, calling the company a “leader in the AI supply chain” and the stock’s selloff from recent peaks a “buying opportunity.”
The Trump administration has continued to go “all-in” on Palantir and likely helped boost its December-end quarter, according to William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma, who expects the stock to top $200 over the next 12 months, implying upside of more than 25% from recent prices.
Citi analyst Tyler Radke upgraded the firm’s rating on the stock to a “buy” from a “neutral” stance last month, saying Palantir’s revenue growth could reach 70% to 80% this year. Accelerating use cases for AI among businesses, and renewed urgency around the U.S.’s defense capabilities—both of which are “acutely aligned to PLTR’s strength,” bodes well for the company, he said; Radke raised the price target on the stock to $235 from $210. The Visible Alpha consensus target is $189.