What Happened?
Shares of data-mining and analytics company Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) jumped 7% in the pre-market session after the company revealed new commercial customers, including Walgreens Boots Alliance and Heineken. This signals that Palantir's commercial business is gaining traction beyond its traditional government contracts. Signing up major names like Walgreens Boots Alliance and Heineken highlights a shift that could help diversify its revenue streams.
Analysts like Louie DiPalma of William Blair saw this as a sign that Palantir's commercial momentum remained strong. Investors would likely watch closely to see if this trend continues, as expanding in the private sector could be key to the company's long-term growth.
Separately, markets experienced a boost after data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that inflation for the month of February 2025 came in better than expected. The CPI (Consumer Price Index - a gauge of the average price consumers pay for goods and services) rose 0.2% from the previous month (vs estimates for a 0.3% increase), while headline inflation rose 2.8% year on year (vs estimates for a 2.9% y/y increase). The data revealed inflation continued to edge closer to the Fed's 2% target, but not quite there yet. The reaction wasn't anything wild, but the sentiment leaned positive. The Nasdaq led the way, climbing 1.4%, boosting some tech stocks.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Palantir’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 35 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 9 days ago when the stock gained 5.6% on the news that Wedbush analysts reaffirmed their Buy rating, suggesting they were unshaken in their resolve, after the company appeared to have surrendered most of its post-earnings (Q4 2024) stock gains amid worries about government budget cuts. The analysts highlighted Palantir's ability to win a bigger share of the remaining pie, citing its AI capabilities and involvement in key military projects.
Palantir is up 11.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $83.68 per share, it is still trading 32.9% below its 52-week high of $124.62 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Palantir’s shares at the IPO in September 2020 would now be looking at an investment worth $8,808.
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