The logo of U.S. software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2020.
Shares of Palantir closed up more than 30% Tuesday, a day after the company released fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations for revenue and showed strong demand for its artificial intelligence offerings.
Palantir, known for its defense and intelligence work with the U.S. government, reported that revenue in the quarter increased 20% to $608.4 million, up from the $602.4 million expected by Wall Street. Palantir said it expects to report between $612 million and $616 million in revenue during its first quarter, shy of the $617 million analysts were anticipating.
In a letter to shareholders, CEO Alex Karp said demand for large language models in the U.S. “continues to be unrelenting.” Palantir has been scaling its Artificial Intelligence Platform, or AIP, and Karp said the company carried out nearly 600 pilots with the technology last year.
Analysts at Citi upgraded Palantir shares to neutral from sell and raised their target price from $10 to $20. They said Palantir delivered a “stronger-than-expected” fourth quarter driven by “breakthrough momentum” in the company’s commercial unit, but they still have some reservations about its conservative full-year guidance for its non-U.S. commercial sectors.
“We see these risks balanced by potential call options on new AI Monetization (AIP) and improving U.S. Government contracts into 2024,” the analysts wrote in a note Tuesday.
Source: www.cnbc.com
