Markets
Palantir earnings analysts react
(CSA Archives/Getty Images)

Analysts react to Palantir’s Q2: “Execution has been stunning”

But they’re still uncomfortable with the valuation.

Market leader and retail trader darling Palantir is on track for its best day since President Trump’s first TACO turn away from massive tariffs juiced the market on April 9.

The reason, of course, is the strong earnings numbers that the data analytics and AI software company reported Monday after the close. (TL;DR: They were great.)

Here are some highlights from the analyst notes we’ve been perusing this morning, which are largely laudatory, albeit with ongoing concern about the company's remarkably high valuation.

Bank of America (Rating: Buy | Price Target: $160 → $180):

“The ‘Rule of 40’ is a financial metric used to compare the sustainable performance of SaaS (Software as a Service) evaluating the right balance between growth and profitability. This rule suggests that strong SaaS should have a revenue growth rate that when added to the profit margin (usually EBITDA) exceeds 40%... Palantir has reached or exceeded this 40% mark over the last 5 years. Recent acceleration in topline growth — coupled with strong profitability — positions the company at unique 80%+ rule of 40 marks over the last three quarters.”

DA Davidson (Rating: Neutral | PT: $115 → $170):

“We believe Palantir is the best story in all of Software. We have raised our estimates and remain positive on the company overall. Palantir scores in the top decile of our coverage on Rule of X. The stock trades at ~103x CY25 revenue, an unprecedented premium to any peer, which is the only reason we maintain our NEUTRAL rating, while raising our price target to $170, from $115.”

Wedbush Securities (Rating: Outperform | PT: $160→ $200):

“We believe Palantir has a ‘golden path to become the next Oracle’ over the coming years and will grow into its valuation.”

Mizuho (Rating: Neutral | PT: $135 → $165):

“PLTR’s recent execution has been stunning, with material upward revisions across both Commercial and Government. That said, the stock’s multiple remains extreme, dramatically above anything else in software. While we continue to worry that the shares could suddenly be subject to material multiple reversion at some point over the next few quarters, PLTR’s uniqueness demands substantial credit. We believe PLTR is increasingly well-positioned to benefit from long-term trends in AI, government digital transformation, and industrial modernization. Reiterate Neutral and raise PT to $165 (from $135).”

Jefferies (Rating: Underperform | PT: $60):

“We commend the strong execution, but valuation at 74x CY26E rev is disconnected from even optimistic growth scenarios (55% 4-yr CAGR = 25x CY28E rev). Maintain Underperform.”

RBC (Rating: Underperform | PT: $40 → $45):

“Stepping back, the quarter and 2025 guidance were ahead of our expectations. However, with shares trading at 78x EV/CY26E revenue, well above peers, we view the risk-reward as negative, although we acknowledge a strong retail tailwind supporting the stock.”

Morgan Stanley (Rating: Equal-weight | PT: $98 → $155):

“The real insight software investors are after is why Palantir has been uniquely able to deliver such best-in-class results. It is increasingly clear that the recipe for such success lies in the company’s world class capabilities in: 1) software defined data integration/ingestion, 2) creating an ontology that allows AI models to have a true understanding of the underlying inter-relationships between data, transactions, employees and customers, 3) workflow automation and grounding state of the art models in enterprise data using the AIP platform and 4) bringing to bear highly technical engineers to help get customer’s complex use cases into production environments.”

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Hardware stocks jump thanks to server demand and record Lenovo revenue

Server stocks are rallying as Dell, Super Micro Computer, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ride the momentum of Hong Kong-based Lenovo. The PC makers stock rose 19% on Friday, hitting an all-time high, on record Q4 earnings.

Powering the positive earnings report was the companys AI-related revenue, which grew 84% in the fourth quarter and now makes up over a third of total revenue. Investors seem to think the increased demand for servers could have trickle-down effects for other companies.

The companys results and commentary reinforced the outlook for strong AI-infrastructure demand while indicating resilient broader traditional server and storage spending, wrote Woo Jin Ho, a senior technology analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Lenovos $21 billion AI-server pipeline and remarks that demand is outpacing supply support Dells AI-demand momentum and point to robust orders.

AIs insatiable computing demand is reshaping the hardware industry and driving up server demand.

Dell will report first-quarter earnings on Thursday, May 28.

Policeman with Piercing Eyes

Take-Two’s “GTA 6” forecast feels absurdly conservative

Take-Two issued a 2027 net bookings forecast about $1 billion below Wall Street’s estimates. The stock is falling on Friday.

The D-Wave 2X quantum system, is operated at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., as seen on Tuesday December 8, 2015.

Quantum computing CEOs hope “validating” government backing proves their technology is no longer speculative

The government funding is a push to boost the foundational elements of quantum computing to get the industry ready for prime time. The CEOs of Infleqtion and D-Wave give us their thoughts.

Luke Kawa5/22/26
markets

Ross Stores surges as Q1 results beat expectations, full-year guidance raised

Ross shares are rising after the company delivered strong Q1 results, with sales topping Wall Street’s projections.

The stock soared 6.3% just after the open.

Key numbers:

  • Earnings per share of $2.02 vs. $1.47 year over year (estimate: $1.72).

  • Sales of $6.01 billion, up 21% year over year (estimate: $5.61 billion).

  • Comparable sales growth of 17% (estimate: 8.58%).

CEO Jim Conroy attributed the results to better traffic in stores. “Customer traffic was the primary driver of the strong sales trend as compelling merchandise assortments, higher customer acquisition and engagement from our ongoing marketing initiatives, and an improved in‑store experience are resonating with shoppers.”

The company also noted that transaction volume grew across all key demographics, including “income levels, ethnicities, and age groups, including younger customers.” Sales were also likely buoyed by standard seasonal tailwinds, including consumer spending from tax refunds.

Backed by the strong quarter, the company lifted its full-year targets. Ross now projects same-store sales growth of 6% to 7%, up from the prior forecast of 3% to 4%, topping Wall Street’s estimate of 4.64%. It boosted its annual EPS guidance to a range of $7.50 to $7.74, versus the prior outlook of $7.02 to $7.36.

Ross Stores has been one of the retail sector’s standout performers this year, rising around 20% year to date as of Thursday’s close.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.