Palantir Reports Explosive Q1 Growth with 206 Million-Dollar Deals, but Anthropic’s Copycat Move and CEO Stock Sales Raise Red Flags
Published on 05/28/2026 at 18:22 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Palantir Technologies staged a sharp rebound on Thursday, climbing nearly 4% to close at €118.76 after two consecutive losing sessions. The bounceback, which more than erased Wednesday’s 3% drop, suggests investors remain willing to bet on the AI software narrative despite a raft of headwinds. Yet the stock still trades 34% below its 52-week high of €179.86 and is down 17% year to date, while a short-term RSI of 83.5 signals overbought conditions.
Behind the price recovery lies a set of first-quarter metrics that justify at least part of the hype. Revenue surged 85% year over year to $1.633 billion, with the US business jumping 104% to $1.282 billion. Most striking was the US commercial segment, which roared 133% higher to $595 million, while government revenue rose 84% to $687 million. Operating income under GAAP came in at $754 million, good for a 46% margin, and adjusted free cash flow hit $925 million.
The company’s contract momentum is equally impressive. Palantir closed 206 deals worth at least $1 million in the first quarter, 47 of which exceeded $10 million. Total contract value climbed 61% to $2.41 billion, while remaining performance obligations stood at $4.5 billion at the end of March, with about 39% expected to convert to revenue over the next twelve months. Net dollar retention also improved, rising 11 percentage points to 150%. For the second quarter, management guided for revenue of roughly $1.8 billion, and the full-year forecast was lifted to a range of $7.65 billion to $7.66 billion, with adjusted free cash flow targeted between $4.2 billion and $4.4 billion.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Palantir?
But the operational strength comes as competition intensifies. Anthropic, the AI lab backed by major tech firms, acquired Fractional AI and is building its own consulting unit—a direct imitation of Palantir’s forward-deployed engineer model. Morningstar analysts are tracking the development closely, noting that OpenAI’s DeployCo unit has also adopted a similar on-site approach. The threat is that as early AIP deployment cycles conclude, customers may turn to rival AI consultants, pressuring pricing or elongating sales cycles.
Adding to the unease, CEO Alexander Karp sold 397,744 shares on May 20, 2026, netting roughly $54 million. SEC filings show Karp has executed 37 transactions over the past five years, all sales. Although the trades typically occur through pre-arranged plans, the pattern draws scrutiny, especially with the stock still well off its highs. Karp’s remaining stake is estimated at over $880 million.
Valuation remains the elephant in the room. The trailing price-to-earnings ratio sits above 155, based on earnings per share of $0.89, and the price-to-sales multiple is 66. Even with an average analyst price target of $183.73—about 26% above the current share price of $136.60—the market is pricing in years of flawless execution. Morningstar, which describes Palantir as a great company with a rare mix of growth and profitability, warns that the key questions are whether the valuation is sustainable and whether the AI labs pose a genuine risk to Palantir’s ontology advantage.
For now, the company has the balance sheet to weather doubts: $2.2 billion in cash and zero debt. Its full-year guidance provides a clear benchmark—any miss on contract signings, margins, or top-line growth would quickly erode the premium. Thursday’s rally shows how abruptly sentiment can shift, but as rivals crowd into the same deployment model, the margin for error is shrinking.
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