Palantir’s trailing 12 months price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 688.53 stretches the boundaries of affordable valuation, implying an ideal development assumption. Such a valuation implies that traders are paying $688 for each $1 of the corporate’s annual internet earnings. Beforehand, we defined intimately why is not any bizarre firm however the rising digital nervous system of the U.S. authorities.
Furthermore, Palantir is deeply intertwined with the rising AI-driven ecosystem, which incorporates Larry Ellison’s Oracle, OpenAI, and Anduril Industries, all of that are intently aligned with Israeli pursuits. President Trump has routinely demonstrated a willingness to expend his political capital serving these pursuits. But, regardless of Palantir’s privileged positioning, the corporate’s valuation nonetheless calls for religion that authorities contracts and protection/intelligence-driven AI adoption will translate into exponential, sustained profitability.
Is that leap remotely justified by Palantir’s fundamentals?
Palantir’s Inventory Value Strikes So Far
Once we lined Palantir in early February, describing the corporate’s enterprise mannequin as offering hegemony expertise, PLTR inventory was priced at $103.33 per share. On the time, the corporate’s P/E was additionally exceptionally excessive at 172.41, with a mean worth goal of $69.50.
At this time degree of $194.50 per share, it’s an understatement to say PLTR pricing surpassed all expectations, though proving our constant framing within the course of. With a year-to-date explosive rise of 156%, PLTR inventory accrued memetic texture, as such good points are extra typical for elusive crypto cash than shares.
Consequently, this solely invited extra speculative commitments to Palantir’s publicity, reflecting the basic FOMO market psychology. However does FOMO have a brief or lengthy runway?
Burry’s Again: Palantir’s The Play
Identified for his fickle engagement with the general public, Dr. Michael Burry of Huge Brief fame returned to X in late October, following a 2-year hiatus. He made an entry by saying the next because it pertains to market bubbles:
“Generally, there’s something to do about it. Generally, the one successful transfer is to not play.”
But, based mostly on Monday’s 13F regulatory submitting for his Scion Asset Administration agency in Q3, there’s something to do about it. Specifically, erecting bearish positioning (places) not solely in opposition to Palantir but in addition in opposition to .
Particularly, the agency now holds 5 million PLTR shares with put choices, representing the majority of the portfolio at 66%. NVDA acquired the identical remedy with 1 million shares, making up 13.51% of the betting dedication.
Apparently, Burry got here to the identical conclusion with regards to pharma large at 11% of the portfolio. In early October, we concluded that each one potential fallout associated to novel mRNA injections has been voided, having advisable PFE as a strong dividend inventory.
Though traders ought to pay attention to these bets, it additionally bears holding in thoughts that Scion Asset Administration’s one-year efficiency didn’t even outpace the S&P 500 (SPX), at 10.78% vs 19.26% respectively.
Nonetheless, given the aforementioned memetic texture of PLTR inventory, Burry’s positioning alone might be enough to sway market sentiment.
Palantir’s Income Rockets In Q3, However Valuation Stays Astronomical
Palantir’s newest Q3 earnings launch ending September, the corporate’s development remains to be spectacular. Yr-over-year, its income expanded by 63% to $1.181 billion, with U.S.-based income rising much more at 77% YoY.
As soon as once more confirming our thesis that Palantir displays a fusion between company and political governance, the corporate’s business contracts introduced in 121% extra income YoY to $397 million, closing in on U.S. authorities contracts at $486 million, which represents 52% development from the year-ago quarter.
At a margin of 40%, Palantir delivered $476 million internet earnings (GAAP). Total, the corporate now has $6.4 billion in money and money equivalents. Extra importantly for traders, Palantir raised its FY 2025 income steerage to $4.396-$4.4 billion vary, alongside raised adjusted free money stream (FCF) steerage to $1.9-$2.1 billion.
Following the Q3 earnings launch on Monday, PLTR inventory is down practically 2%, suggesting that even stellar headline numbers are inadequate to justify a valuation to date indifferent from conventional metrics of profitability.
On the similar time, this may possible function one other buy-the-dip alternative for traders seeking to catch up. This makes it exceedingly tough to pin down a rational entry level, because the inventory oscillates between its very actual fundamentals and narrative-driven euphoria born of these fundamentals.
Within the meantime, Wall Road Journal’s consensus places the common PLTR worth goal at $178.90, considerably beneath the present worth of $194.50 per share. The low finish is $50, whereas the excessive finish is $255 per share, reflecting the market’s wrestle to reconcile Palantir’s distinctive development with its stratospheric valuation.
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