Vive la revolution!
Those were the words that drove the French Revolution back in the 18th Century and the phrase is helping fuel the age of artificial intelligence in the 21st Century.
The word “revolution” cropped up at least 13 times during Palantir’s (PLTR) fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts on Feb. 4, as the big data analytics software company beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates.
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“Welcome to our Palantir revolution, otherwise known as our earnings call,” CEO and co-founder Alex Karp said.
The Denver, Colo.-based company uses its artificial intelligence platform, AIP, to help clients pull together disparate collections of data into a single model that they can use in their day-to-day business.
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“You know, the part of the reason we’ve done so well is the experts look to the past as an indication of the future when we’re looking to the future as an indication of the present,” Karp said. “And it’s very, very hard to figure out what’s going to happen.”
Palantir also benefits from its ontology offering, a framework that helps represent and connect real-world entities, data, and processes for its commercial clients.
Alex Karp, chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc., says ‘we are at the beginning of a revolution.’.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Palantir CEO: we are making America more lethal
A major portion of the company’s revenue comes from government contracts, particularly within the U.S. Department of Defense. Karp has been very outspoken about his company’s role on the battlefield.
“We believe we are making America more lethal, making our adversaries increasingly afraid of acting against the interests of America and especially Americans,” he said. “And we are proud of our moral stance, and we are very long on the U.S. and what is happening and what will happen in the future.”
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Palantir earned 14 cents per share, up from 8 cents a year ago, and beating Wall Street’s call for 11 cents. Revenue totaled $828 million, up 36% from a year ago, beating the consensus estimate of $776 million in sales.
The company also offered better-than-expected guidance, forecasting revenue to range between $858 million and $862 million, ahead of estimates of $799 million. Palantir forecast sales of $3.74 billion to $3.76 billion for the full year, ahead of the $3.52 billion average estimate.
“We are at the way beginning of a revolution,” Karp said. “And we plan to be a cornerstone, if not the cornerstone company, in driving this revolution in the U.S.”
Palantir’s stock is up nearly 500% from a year ago.
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Analysts at Bank of America Securities were feeling the spirit as they boosted their price target on Palantir shares to $125 from $90 while reiterating their buy rating.
“Vive la revolution – this is no one-time event,” the firm said in a research note. “Palantir leap-frogged over full year 2024 expectations and the message was clear – 2024 was only a dress rehearsal. The company sees the world ripe for an AI and technology revolution. “
“We see PLTR enabling and leading this revolution in both Commercial and Defense markets,” BofA added.
With the AI market becoming more crowded with more commoditized solutions, the firm said that it believes Palantir’s value proposition is only becoming more pronounced.
“PLTR’s focus on operationalizing data, establishing high-fidelity digital enterprise-twins, and accelerating decision-making is a winning formula,” BofA said. “We expect further market-value being awarded to the AI value-adders vs. commodity distributors and stand firmly that PLTR will remain a value-adder.”
Citi raised the firm’s price target on Palantir to $110 from $42 and kept a neutral rating on the shares.
Veteran analyst: Palantir greatest call of my career
The company posted “another impressive all-around beat,” with most key performance indicators reaccelerating, driven by strength in the U.S. despite tough compares, the firm said.
Citi said Palantir’s bookings metrics improved substantially, with U.S.-commercial notching triple-digit growth.
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However, the firm retained the neutral rating on the stock, noting there was likely some non-repeatable budget flush in Q4 and now hitting softer Q1 seasonality.
Stephen “Sarge” Guilfoyle couldn’t contain his excitement over Palantir’s results, telling readers in his TheStreet Pro column that he “started screaming like a school kid.”
“Very un-military like,” the veteran analyst. “My wife ran into my office. She thought maybe I had a heart attack. I don’t think she was hoping I had a heart attack.”
Guilfoyle, who started his career on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the 1980s, said he was listening to the Fly Cast audio service and, upon hearing the commentator mention Palantir Technologies, “the rest was the stuff of gummy bears and candy canes.”
“Just awesome,” said Guilfoyle, reminding readers of his long history of owning Palantir shares. “For the new kids, this stock has been both the greatest call and best investment of my many-decades career.”
Heading into 2024, Guilfoyle picked Palantir as his top stock for the year. Last month, he picked Palantir again as his favorite stock for 2025.
And now, following earnings, he’s boosted his price target on Palantir’s stock to $133 from $90. Guilfoyle isn’t holding back his feelings about Karp.
“You all know I think (he) is a once-in-a-very-blue-moon chief executive who combines the right mix of genius, intensity, focus and maybe even a little eccentricity,” he said. “A perfect ingredient when it works and right now, it’s working.”
Palantir is not just a growth stock, Guilfoyle said, it’s one of the few “growth” stocks in late 2024 and early 2025 that is truly experiencing an acceleration in the firm’s rate of sales growth.
“Cash flows are not just positive but growing.” he said. “The balance sheet is just beyond simply being fortress-like. Oh, and the business is still attracting both new customers and increased business with old customers.”
“All while serving the defense and intelligence needs of the United States with a highly-tuned focus,” Sarge added.
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