Palantir's Institutional Stampede Collides With a Famous Bear's Bet
Published on 08/25/2026 at 03:04 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The battle over Palantir's stock is no longer just about earnings — it's a tug-of-war between the quiet accumulation of global banks and the loud skepticism of a legendary contrarian.
Fresh regulatory filings paint a picture of steady institutional conviction. Deutsche Bank added 115,819 shares during the second quarter, lifting its total stake to 10.26 million shares. Pinnacle Holdings, meanwhile, picked up 13,635 shares on the open market in the same period. With institutional ownership now sitting at 45.65 percent, the message from the professional money crowd is unambiguous.
That makes the timing of Michael Burry's latest move all the more striking. The Scion Asset Management founder has built a new short position against the data analytics firm, according to media reports. Burry's bearish bets on Palantir are nothing new, but each fresh position gets parsed on Wall Street like a signal — even when it represents only a sliver of trading volume.
A Tax Disclosure Fans the Flames
The short seller's timing coincided with a fresh point of contention. Palantir's effective tax rate of just 1.4 percent — enabled by $3.2 billion in accumulated tax loss carryforwards — helped the company post a 55 percent net margin. The arrangement is perfectly legal, but in a market already cooling on AI software names, it gave skeptics another reason to pause. The stock slipped 2.1 percent on Monday as the tax story made the rounds.
None of this appears to have dented the underlying momentum. The shares have climbed more than 65 percent since the June 25 yearly low, and the 30-day gain stands at a hefty 42 percent. Even after the recent wobble, Palantir trades at 153.00 euros — comfortably above its 50-day moving average of 121.68 euros, a technical marker that underscores the durability of the uptrend that began in early summer.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Palantir?
The Pentagon Pipeline Keeps Growing
The fundamental story remains robust. Second-quarter results, released roughly three weeks ago, showed revenue of $1.935 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $0.41, with particularly strong demand in commercial applications. Management responded by lifting full-year 2026 guidance to a range between $8.15 billion and $8.158 billion, while the third-quarter revenue target was revised upward to as much as $2.164 billion.
The defense side of the business is deepening too. A draft Pentagon document indicates the Department of Defense wants up to $244 million in Palantir services through March 2027, and is already exploring funding options for the period from April 2027 through December 2028.
CEO Alex Karp added to the positive tone last Wednesday, speaking favorably about platform scalability and efficiency gains among enterprise customers. CNBC noted the stock traded above $180 on the US exchange on Sunday, reflecting the buoyant mood.
The Political Fog Thickens
Yet the more consequential fight is happening off the balance sheet. Unionized journalists at Gannett — the publisher behind USA Today — are demanding an immediate end to a data partnership with Palantir, citing ethical objections to the company's surveillance contracts with ICE. And National Nurses United has scheduled nationwide demonstrations for Thursday, pressuring hospitals and elected officials to sever ties with the company over human rights and privacy concerns.
Palantir is increasingly discussed not merely as a software vendor but as a political symbol. Holding the stock now means taking a view on whether such protests can actually threaten commercial relationships — or whether they remain symbolic noise.
So far, there's little evidence of customer attrition. The company reports that nearly 200 organizations attended its "Sovereignty Bootcamps" for the Artificial Intelligence Platform within 30 days of launch.
A Valuation Debate Without a Clear Winner
The stock remains 16 percent below its 52-week high of 179.98 euros, reached in early November, and trades at a 24 percent premium to its 50-day average — a reminder of how far the rally ran before the tax debate and Burry's position introduced fresh uncertainty. Over the past seven days, the shares have moved up a modest 1.7 percent.
The central question isn't whether Palantir can keep delivering strong numbers — it does so reliably. The real test is whether a software company increasingly caught in political crossfire can sustain the same valuation as an ordinary growth stock. That argument, unlike the share price, shows no signs of settling anytime soon.
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