My aunt Mildred, who invests exclusively in companies she vaguely understands from television commercials, asked me about Palantir the other day. “They sound…serious,” she said, which, in Mildred’s world, is a glowing recommendation. Palantir (PLTR +6.75%), the data analytics firm, closed at $157.88 yesterday, up a respectable 6.85%. I tried to explain what they do – something about integrating data for governments and businesses – but she glazed over. She was more interested in whether the CEO had a good haircut. Which, frankly, is a more pertinent question than most of the things I read in earnings reports.
The stock jumped after their latest numbers, apparently fueled by record Q4 growth and the siren song of AI demand. Investors are now pondering whether this translates into sustained expansion. I’m less concerned with sustainability and more with the sheer volume of money changing hands. Over 111.3 million shares traded – 139% above their three-month average. That’s a lot of hope being priced in. Palantir IPO’d in 2020, and has, since then, climbed 1,562%. It makes me think of those inflatable waving tube men you see outside used car dealerships. A lot of enthusiastic movement, but ultimately tethered to the ground.
How the Markets Moved Today
The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.84%) dipped 0.85% to 6,917, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.43%) fell even further, down 1.43% to 23,255. Apparently, not everyone is as optimistic about expensive hope as my aunt Mildred. Microsoft (MSFT 2.86%) closed at $411.21 (-2.87%), and Oracle (ORCL 3.37%) finished at $154.6 (-3.41%). Investors seem to be weighing the cost of all this AI infrastructure spending. Which, let’s be honest, is probably going to involve a lot of very complicated cables and a dedicated server room that hums ominously.
What This Means for Investors
Palantir’s revenue soared around 70% year over year, with their U.S. commercial business leading the charge – up a staggering 137%. That’s impressive, especially considering the prevailing narrative that they’re primarily reliant on government contracts. It seems they’ve managed to convince some private sector clients that they need a sophisticated system for…well, for analyzing data. Which, in most cases, could probably be done with a spreadsheet and a slightly organized filing system, but who am I to judge?
Analysts are, predictably, upgrading the stock and setting price targets as high as $235 per share. The accelerating AI-driven growth has investors believing that Palantir’s lofty valuation is justified. It’s a beautiful thing, really. The ability to convince people that something is worth more than it objectively is. If their growth rate is sustainable, that will be a nice surprise. But I suspect, like most things, it will eventually plateau. And then we’ll all be left wondering why we ever thought a company that sounds like a Russian spy novel was a good investment.
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2026-02-04 02:03