- Palantir’s (PLTR) stock surged 22% post-earnings, exceeding expectations with strong 2025 guidance.
- Analysts split on valuation; Thill warns of high multiples, Ives sees AI growth potential.
- Ives predicts trillion-dollar cap for Palantir, highlighting its unique growth model.
In a recent segment on CNBC’s ‘Closing Bell Overtime,’ the discussion revolved around Palantir Technologies Inc.’s (PLTR) earnings, which, as of last check, sparked a significant 22% spike in its stock price after hours. Analysts Dan Ives from Wedbush and Brent Thill from Jefferies shared their contrasting views on the company’s performance and future prospects.
Palantir had just reported a beat on both revenue and earnings per share, alongside providing strong guidance for 2025 free cash flow, which was better than market expectations. Despite this, the stock has been a point of contention among analysts, with only three giving it a ‘Buy; rating. Dan Ives has maintained a Street-high price target of $90 for Palantir, reflecting his bullish stance, while Brent Thill holds an ‘Underperform’ rating with a much lower price target of $28, focusing on valuation concerns.
Brent Thill acknowledged Palantir’s solid fundamentals but emphasized his reservations were primarily about valuation, not the company’s operational performance. He pointed out that for Palantir to justify its current valuation, it would need to grow at an extraordinary rate for several years consecutively. He highlighted that Palantir’s shareholder base is unusually composed, with a significant portion being retail investors and insiders, which differs from typical software companies. Thill referenced past examples like Snowflake (SNOW) and Datadog (DDOG), which saw sharp declines after trading at high revenue multiples, suggesting caution in chasing such valuations.
Dan Ives countered this by describing the quarter as historical for Palantir, defending its high valuation by comparing it to future tech giants like Oracle (ORCL) or Salesforce (CRM) in the AI sector. He argued that the bear case against Palantir has been consistent even as the stock price has climbed from $10 to $40 to $100. Ives believes that Palantir, with its unique approach of not having a traditional sales force yet achieving significant growth through inbound interest, is poised for substantial long-term gains. He envisions Palantir potentially reaching a trillion-dollar market cap in the coming years, driven by the AI revolution.
Regarding marketing, Ives mentioned that despite Palantir’s unconventional approach of not investing heavily in marketing or traditional sales, the company has managed to generate impressive growth numbers. This, he argued, should be a point of optimism rather than concern, suggesting that Palantir doesn’t necessarily need to change its strategy to continue growing.
The conversation underscored a broader debate on how investors should view companies with high growth potential versus those with high valuations. While Thill’s concerns are rooted in historical precedents of tech stock valuations, Ives sees Palantir as an exception, driven by a unique market position and the broader adoption of AI technologies. This split in analyst perspectives reflects the broader market’s uncertainty about how to value tech companies at the forefront of AI innovation.
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