Driven by Trump-Era Defense and Security Demand, Palantir Reports Strong Earnings
Raises Full-Year Revenue Outlook
Closes at All-Time High
Palantir, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based data analytics software company, announced on August 4 (local time) that it achieved quarterly revenue of $1 billion (approximately 1.386 trillion won) for the first time ever in the second quarter (April to June).
Palantir recorded $1 billion in revenue and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.16 in the second quarter. Both figures surpassed the estimates compiled by market research firm LSEG, which had projected revenue of $940 million and EPS of $0.14. Revenue surged by 48% compared to the same period last year, accelerating past analysts’ expectations that the $1 billion mark would be reached by year-end.
The company also raised its full-year revenue outlook from the previous range of $3.89 billion to $3.9 billion, to a new range of $4.142 billion to $4.15 billion.
In particular, U.S. revenue saw a sharp increase. In the second quarter, Palantir’s U.S. revenue rose 68% year-on-year to $733 million, with U.S. government revenue up 53% to $426 million. This is attributed to the benefits of President Donald Trump’s emphasis on strengthening national security and expanding defense spending.
Commercial revenue also nearly doubled, reaching $306 million. Last week, Palantir announced that it had signed a U.S. government contract worth up to $10 billion over the next 10 years, reaffirming its growth momentum driven by expanding defense and security demand.
In a letter to shareholders, CEO Alex Karp stated, “After years of investment and enduring external ridicule, the pace of our business growth has accelerated dramatically,” adding, “The skeptics have now lost their strength and have surrendered to us.” He further emphasized, “The combination of large language models (LLMs), the semiconductors powering them, and our software infrastructure is driving steep growth.”
On the New York Stock Exchange that day, Palantir shares closed at $160.66, up 4.14% from the previous trading day, setting an all-time closing high. This is more than double the $75.63 recorded at the end of last year. Following the earnings announcement, the stock price rose an additional 5% in after-hours trading.
Some analysts have been warning for several months that Palantir’s stock is overvalued. CNBC reported, “Palantir shares are currently trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 276, and, excluding Tesla (177), it is the only company among the top 20 U.S. tech firms by market capitalization to have a triple-digit valuation, so concerns about overvaluation persist.”
Nevertheless, Palantir’s stock price has more than doubled so far this year. Its market capitalization has grown to $379 billion (approximately 524 trillion won), surpassing Salesforce, IBM, and Cisco, and placing it among the top publicly traded tech companies in the United States.
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