Palantir Technologies PLTR
What does Palantir Technologies do?
Palantir develops software platforms that allow organizations to consolidate, analyze and use large, distributed data sets for operational decisions. Gotham is aimed at defense and intelligence agencies and supports situational awareness, mission planning and the analysis of sensor data. Foundry serves companies and government agencies that integrate data from different systems and build applications on top of it. In addition, there are platforms for AI-supported use cases.
Revenue comes mainly from software licenses, subscriptions and usage-based contracts, supplemented by implementation and consulting services. Customers are government bodies, mainly in security and defense, as well as companies from sectors such as industry, energy, healthcare and finance. In competition, Palantir stands out through deep integration into security-critical processes and long-standing customer relationships. Competitors include large cloud providers, data platform specialists, analytics software firms and consultancies with their own solutions.
Score profile
Rank vs. Software - Infrastructure (50 companies). 10 = top of the group, 5 = middle. Calculated from the metrics below, without AI.
Metrics compared with the industry
On profitability and quality, Palantir Technologies ranks among the best in the group Software - Infrastructure (9.1/10). On growth, the company ranks among the best in the group Software - Infrastructure (9.5/10). On valuation (higher = cheaper), the stock ranks in the bottom fifth in the group Software - Infrastructure (1.6/10). On financial strength, Palantir Technologies ranks above average in the group Software - Infrastructure (6.2/10).
| Metric | Stock | Group median | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward P/E | 66.6x | 16.0x | better than 7 % |
| Trailing P/E | 118.9x | 31.5x | better than 6 % |
| PEG ratio | 1.3x | 1.4x | better than 54 % |
| EV/EBITDA | 118.5x | 20.0x | better than 1 % |
| Price/sales | 55.8x | 3.8x | better than 1 % |
| Price/book | 36.2x | 5.8x | better than 6 % |
| Revenue growth | 95.9% | 14.3% | better than 99 % |
| Earnings growth | 144.4% | 24.4% | better than 91 % |
| Gross margin | 84.7% | 72.3% | better than 89 % |
| Operating margin | 46.9% | 13.3% | better than 93 % |
| Net margin | 50.3% | 10.5% | better than 97 % |
| Return on equity | 40.9% | 12.4% | better than 87 % |
| Debt/equity | 2.0% | 17.5% | better than 79 % |
| Current ratio | 7.1x | 1.5x | better than 99 % |
| Free cash flow yield | 0.7% | 3.7% | better than 9 % |
| Dividend yield | 0.0% | 1.1% | – |
| Payout ratio | 0.0% | 31.4% | – |
| Beta | 1.61 | 1.04 | – |
Valuation: what is Palantir Technologies worth?
For Palantir Technologies the data currently does not allow a reliable model range (e.g. negative free cash flow or missing comparables). In this case the Pro analysis assesses the valuation qualitatively.
28 analysts, average rating “Buy”, average price target 222.25 USD (+31.6%).
The full DCF matrix, the reverse DCF (what growth the price implies) and scenarios are part of the Pro analysis.
What the business depends on
- Revenue depends heavily on the budgets and procurement decisions of government clients in security and defense.
- Expanding existing customer relationships and winning new corporate customers drive growth and economies of scale in the software platforms.
- Demand for AI-supported data applications in day-to-day operations influences how quickly pilot projects turn into larger contracts.
Risks
- High dependence on a few large government customers makes the business vulnerable to budget changes, delays and political decisions.
- Data protection, ethics debates and regulatory requirements on surveillance and AI can make it harder to win contracts and weigh on the company's reputation.
- Strong competition from cloud groups and data platform providers can put pressure on prices, differentiation and customer acquisition.
What to look for with Palantir Technologies
The development of revenue per existing customer is informative, as it shows whether customers expand their use of the platforms sustainably after initial projects.