Palantir Jumps After Securing USSOCOM Contract Boost - What's Going On?
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Dec 09 2024
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Should l Buy PLTR?
Source: Benzinga
Palantir's Contract with USSOCOM: Palantir Technologies has secured a $36.8 million contract with the U.S. Special Operations Command, designating it as the lead software integrator for their Mission Command System and enhancing technology support for Special Operations Forces globally.
Market Reaction: Following the announcement of the contract, Palantir's shares rose by 7.51% in premarket trading, reflecting investor confidence in the company's role in innovating defense operations through advanced software solutions.
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Analyst Views on PLTR
Wall Street analysts forecast PLTR stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for PLTR is 192.88 USD with a low forecast of 50.00 USD and a high forecast of 255.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
17 Analyst Rating
5 Buy
10 Hold
2 Sell
Hold
Current: 135.680
Low
50.00
Averages
192.88
High
255.00
Current: 135.680
Low
50.00
Averages
192.88
High
255.00
About PLTR
Palantir Technologies Inc. is engaged in building software to assist in counterterrorism investigations and operations. The Company has built four principal software platforms, including Palantir Gotham (Gotham), Palantir Foundry (Foundry), Palantir Apollo (Apollo), and Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). Apollo is a cloud-agnostic, single control layer that coordinates ongoing delivery of new features, security updates, and platform configurations, helping to ensure the continuous operation of critical systems. Gotham enables users to identify patterns hidden deep within datasets, ranging from signals intelligence sources to reports from confidential informants. Foundry transforms the ways organizations operate by creating a central operating system for their data. AIP enables responsible artificial intelligence (AI)-advantage across the enterprise by using primary, core components built to effectively activate large language models and other AI within any organization.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Significant Revenue Growth: Palantir's total revenue for Q4 2025 increased by 70% year-over-year to $1.41 billion, with U.S. revenue rising 93% to $1.08 billion, indicating strong market performance and heightened client demand.
- Government Contract Expansion: The U.S. military's contract with Palantir could be worth up to $10 billion over the next decade, further solidifying Palantir's leadership in the defense sector while providing substantial revenue streams for the company.
- Commercial Product Success: Palantir's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) achieved a 137% increase in U.S. commercial revenue in 2025, demonstrating rapid acceptance and demand for its products in the commercial market, thereby enhancing the company's competitive edge.
- Strong Financial Health: By the end of 2025, Palantir held $7.2 billion in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, with total debt at just $229.3 million, showcasing the company's ability to maintain financial health while pursuing growth and expansion opportunities.
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- Authorization Expansion: Palantir's PFCS Forward has extended its existing provisional authorizations to include on-premises and edge deployments, utilizing a hardware-agnostic approach that streamlines the authorization process, significantly reducing the time for customers to achieve Authorization to Operate (ATO) and enhancing deployment flexibility.
- National Security Significance: This authorization underscores Palantir's strategic importance in providing cutting-edge technology solutions for national security missions, enabling its platforms to be deployed efficiently in diverse settings, from large-scale data centers to mobile environments, thereby enhancing operational resilience and survivability.
- Stock Technical Analysis: Currently, Palantir's stock is trading 12.3% below its 20-day simple moving average and 22.3% below its 100-day simple moving average, indicating a bearish trend in the short to medium term; however, shares have increased by 15.58% over the past 12 months, positioning closer to their 52-week highs than lows.
- Analyst Expectations: The stock carries a Hold rating with an average price forecast of $193.33, with recent analyst moves showing divergence as DA Davidson and UBS lowered their targets to $180.00 while Citigroup raised its target to $260.00, reflecting mixed outlooks among analysts.
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- Stock Decline: Palantir Technologies saw its stock drop as much as 6.7% on Thursday, with a 5% decline still noted by 2:00 p.m. ET, reflecting market concerns about its future performance.
- Investor Prediction: Notable investor Michael Burry released a 10,000-word thesis predicting a potential 66% drop in Palantir's stock price to around $46, although he presented various scenarios, his overall outlook remained bearish.
- Analyst Perspective: Analysts at D.A. Davidson reaffirmed their neutral rating and $180 price target for Palantir, asserting that Burry's article lacked new evidence to alter their view, emphasizing the company's growth and strong cash flow.
- Valuation Debate: Despite Palantir's high price-to-earnings ratio of 202, analysts questioned Burry's stance, arguing that the company's ability to grow rapidly while maintaining high cash flow margins indicates the sustainability of its business model.
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- Market Concerns Intensify: Amazon's announcement of a $200 billion investment in AI-related capital expenditures by 2026 has led to a 9% decline in its stock year-to-date, reflecting investor worries about excessive AI spending potentially impacting future profitability.
- Microsoft's Earnings Reaction: Despite reporting a 17% year-over-year revenue increase and a 21% rise in operating income, Microsoft's stock fell 17% due to concerns over its plan to spend over $100 billion on capex this year, indicating market skepticism about its AI investments.
- SaaS Sector Struggles: Software companies like Salesforce and Adobe have seen significant stock price declines as investors fear that advancements in AI will severely disrupt the enterprise software industry, leading to a phenomenon dubbed the
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- Investor Concerns: Major AI and software stocks have declined year-to-date due to worries about AI spending and industry disruption, with Amazon and Microsoft seeing stock drops of approximately 9% and 17%, respectively, reflecting market skepticism about their planned capital expenditures of $200 billion and $100 billion.
- SaaS Industry Crisis: As AI technology advances, investors are increasingly anxious about the future of software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, with some labeling the situation as the 'SaaSpocalypse,' leading to significant declines in stocks like Salesforce and Adobe, indicating concerns over traditional software profitability.
- ETF Investment Opportunity: Investors can consider buying the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF to capitalize on a potential rebound in software company share prices, which includes 114 North American software firms and has delivered an average annual return of 10.4%, despite a P/E ratio of 35.2, slightly above the Nasdaq-100's 32.4.
- Uncertain Industry Outlook: Despite industry insiders like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang opposing the 'SaaSpocalypse' narrative, asserting that AI will not fully replace software, the ongoing sell-off in software stocks continues, prompting investors to carefully evaluate future investment opportunities.
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- Market Value Loss: On Thursday, Wall Street's tech sector saw over $500 billion wiped off market value across 10 major companies, indicating a sharp decline in investor confidence amid simultaneous pressures on both software and hardware sectors.
- Cisco Earnings Impact: Cisco's stock plummeted 11% despite reporting earnings of $1.04 per share, exceeding expectations, as the company’s gross margin guidance of 65.5%-66.5% fell short of the 68% consensus, highlighting the impact of rising hardware costs.
- Memory Shortage Risks: Lenovo confirmed mounting pressure on PC shipments, with CEO Yang Yuanqing stating that while unit pressures are expected, the company aims to maintain profitability, reflecting growing concerns over memory shortages in the industry.
- Software Sector Decline: The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF dropped over 3% on Thursday, with the sector down over 20% year-to-date, illustrating the ongoing impact of fears surrounding AI disruption on software stock performance.
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