Lake Street Boosts Palantir Stake by 47,000 Shares

Imagine, if you will, a small but determined squirrel-Lake Street Private Wealth, a U.S. asset manager with $700 million in assets under management-stashing 47,089 acorns (or shares) of Palantir Technologies (PLTR) in its burrow. This latest move, revealed in a second-quarter 2025 SEC filing, brought its total stake to 54,798 shares, worth roughly $8.6 million as of August 21. A squirrel with a penchant for high-risk, high-reward ventures, it seems.

But let us not mistake this for a mere nut hoard. Palantir’s stock has been a curious phenomenon, rising 380% over the past year-like a balloon filled with helium and a dash of hubris. It outperformed the S&P 500 by 365 percentage points, a feat akin to a tortoise sprinting past a cheetah while wearing roller skates. The company’s five-year revenue CAGR of 31% suggests it’s not just a flash in the pan, but a steady climb up a hill of data and algorithms.

As for Lake Street’s broader portfolio, its top holdings resemble a well-stocked pantry: Vanguard Value ETF ($42.12 million), Nvidia ($38.73 million), and Apple ($30.67 million) dominate, with smaller treats like the Invesco QQQ Trust. Yet Palantir, with its $156.18 share price, stands out like a neon sign in a library-loud, attention-grabbing, and slightly bewildering.

Palantir’s financials are a puzzle wrapped in a riddle. Its forward P/E ratio of 240 and trailing EV/EBITDA of 610.3 suggest investors are betting on a future where data analytics is as essential as oxygen. The company’s market cap of $370.5 billion and $3.44 billion in revenue (TTM) paint a picture of a beast that’s grown from a shrew to a bear in a decade.

What makes Palantir tick? Its software platforms-Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and the AI Platform (AIP)-are like Swiss Army knives for enterprises and governments. They help organizations slice through data chaos, much as a chef might chop vegetables. The U.S. government, which accounts for 43% of revenue, is a loyal customer, but it’s the commercial sector-growing at 93% year-on-year-that promises the most exciting adventures.

From an activist investor’s perspective, Palantir’s rising profit margins (16.5% in Q2 2025) and revenue growth (doubling in 10 quarters) are like a well-timed punchline. Yet the stock’s valuation-115 times sales, 519 times earnings-feels like a magician’s trick: impressive, but one wonders where the rabbit is hiding. Still, in a world where AI is the new oil, Palantir’s position is less a gamble and more a calculated leap into the future.

In the end, Lake Street’s move is a reminder that even in the dense forest of finance, some squirrels know where the acorns are. And if Palantir’s story continues to unfold as thrillingly as it has, those acorns may yet become oaks.

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2025-08-22 10:56