Palantir Technologies, founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel and Stephen Cohen, is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company's focus lies in revolutionizing AI and big data analytics to enhance human intelligence. Initially catering to federal government applications, Palantir now serves state, local, and private entities with products like Palantir Gotham, Apollo, Foundry, and Metropolis, with Gotham being its core offering for aggregating vast data sets for rapid decision-making, although facing criticism for applications like "predictive policing."
In terms of financial performance, Palantir reported its quarterly earnings with $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, slightly below analyst estimates. The company's revenue for the quarter was $608.35 million, exceeding analyst expectations. Palantir boasts a market capitalization of $55.87 billion. However, the sentiment surrounding the stock remains bearish, evident in its low rating, forecasted downside, healthy short interest, and recent insider selling activities.
Analysts have consistently rated the stock as Reduce with a consensus price target of $18.21, implying nearly 28% downside potential. Short interest in Palantir remains notable, with 97 million shares sold short, representing approximately 4.39% of the float. Despite a slight decrease in short interest month-over-month, the dollar volume sold short stands at $2.43 billion, indicating significant investor skepticism around the stock's future performance. Insider selling has also been prominent, with a total of 11 insiders selling shares totaling $280.24 million in the past 12 months, including a substantial sale by Director Peter Thiel in March 2021.
Despite the bearish sentiment, a technical analysis perspective suggests a potentially bullish outlook for Palantir's stock. Following a two-month consolidation period above rising Simple Moving Averages (SMAs) within a narrow range after its earnings report, a successful break above resistance levels around $27 could trigger significant upward momentum. This juxtaposition of bearish sentiment and bullish chart signals presents an intriguing scenario for investors tracking Palantir Technologies' future trajectory.