Palantir二季度业绩超预期并上调全年指引后股价单日上涨29.5%

Shares of Palantir, a U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) data analytics company, surged nearly 30% in a single day. As earnings far exceeded market expectations, short sellers who had bet against the stock gave back most of the profits they had earned this year.
According to Bloomberg, Palantir's stock soared 29.5% on the 4th. Short sellers suffered paper losses of $3 billion (about 4.3 trillion won) that day, according to financial data firm S3 Partners. Because Palantir's stock had struggled throughout the year, these investors had accumulated more than $2.7 billion in paper gains through the previous day, gains that vanished in a single day.
The surge was driven by second-quarter results released the day before. Palantir's second-quarter revenue was $1.93546 billion, up 93% from a year earlier. That exceeded the $1.8 billion the market had expected by more than $100 million. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 41 cents also beat the forecast of 35 cents.
The standout was the commercial market. U.S. commercial revenue jumped 149% to $764 million. Having grown through defense and government business, the company narrowed the gap with its U.S. government revenue ($809 million) to about $45 million. Operating profit rose 239% to $912 million, and the operating margin reached 47%.
The company also raised its outlook for the year. It lifted its annual revenue forecast to $8.15 billion-$8.158 billion from $7.65 billion-$7.66 billion. CEO Alex Karp described it by saying "AI demand is out of this world." He added, "I think we can do in 90 days what it takes other companies more than a year to do."
There had been concern in the market that Palantir's software business could be pushed aside as AI model companies such as Anthropic grow larger. Analysts say those concerns have largely eased as the company issued a confident outlook.
Palantir is a data analytics software company founded in 2003. In its early days, it received funding from In-Q-Tel, the venture investment arm of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and grew alongside intelligence and defense agencies. Its main business is gathering scattered data in one place, analyzing it, and organizing it for easy viewing. Its flagship products are Gotham, used by government and the military; Foundry, for corporate use; and AIP, an AI platform released in 2023. It holds long-term contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and made a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020.
Wall Street assessments are divided. Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick raised his investment rating to buy from hold and maintained a price target of $200. He said, "Palantir is several steps ahead of other software companies in turning AI demand into real customer value." According to Bloomberg data, about 70% of analysts covering the company have a buy rating.