Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp appears on a Bloomberg television interview during the FoundryCon event in Palo Alto, California, on March 7, 2024.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Palantir shares close up 23% to record on uplifting guidance

by · CNBC

Key Points

  • Palantir shares finished up 23% on Tuesday for a record close after the data analytics software maker reported robust third-quarter results and issued uplifting revenue guidance.
  • In September, the company gained entry into the S&P 500 stock index.
  • Deutsche Bank analysts said in a report that "the beat was driven by better-than-expected U.S. Government performance."

In this article

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Palantir shares finished up 23% on Tuesday for a record close after the data analytics software maker reported robust third-quarter results and issued uplifting revenue guidance.

The stock reached a closing high of $51.13, above the prior record of $44.97 reached last week. The gain marks the stock's biggest jump since Feb. 6, when shares popped 30%.

Revenue climbed 30% to $726 million from a year earlier, topping the $701 million average analyst estimate, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings per share of 10 cents beat the average estimate of 9 cents.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a report that "the beat was driven by better-than-anticipated US Government performance," boosted by demand for artificial intelligence tools.

"Palantir is among a handful of infrastructure software companies that have started to meaningfully monetize generative AI, where its competitive positioning benefits from longtime investment and deep expertise in complex data integration, and particularly its reputation for data security built into its ontology," the analysts wrote.

Net income of $143.5 million, or 6 cents per share, was up from $71.5 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The company called for fourth-quarter revenue of $767 million to $771 million. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had been looking for $741.4 million.

Palantir is targeting more than $687 million in U.S. commercial revenue for the year, implying about 24% of the total.

Bank of America bumped its price target from $50 to $55 and maintained its buy rating.

"We continue to view the adoption of PLTR's AI-enabled products and reach in its early days, as more companies realize the time, resource, and cost savings possible," Bank of America analysts wrote in a note to investors. "In our view, Palantir's moat as the differentiated agnostic AI-enabler is only growing with each new use-case carrying compounding unit economics."

— CNBC's Jordan Novet and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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