markets

Matt Phillips1/12/26

Citi upgrades Palantir to “buy,” citing recent conversations with CIOs

Citi analysts hit the buy button on Palantir Technologies Monday, citing a strong outlook for growth both in Palantir’s large government contracting and defense business as well as its rapidly growing commercial division, which sells software to corporations to help them better use AI technology.

“Our upgrade is premised on our view that 2026 is poised to be another year of significant positive estimate revisions, with recent CIO [chief information officer] + industry conversations suggesting AI budget and use cases are accelerating in the enterprise. We also see significant tailwinds in the Government driven by accelerating defense budgets and modernization urgency.”

The bank, which had a “neutral” rating on the stock since February 2024, also cited chatter at its recent IT software conference, where participants talked up the cost savings generated by Palantir’s AI Platform software and noted that its Q4 IT survey on software budgets showed an incremental rise in budgets “especially for dedicated AI workloads and data project prioritization.”

“We expect PLTR, with its Foundry and AIP platform, to be one of the key Data Analytics/ AI vendors that could see further tailwind into numbers,” Citi analysts wrote.

Palantir is expected to report Q4 results on February 18.

But it’s an open question whether the surging growth Citi now sees for the company has already been priced in for the stock. The shares have risen close to 1,000% over the last two years, pushing standard measures of valuation to arguably lunatic levels.

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General Fusion CEO Greg Twinney spoke with Sherwood News from the Nasdaq during the stock’s first day of trading.

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markets

J. Edward Moreno7/7/26

SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

US job growth falls far short of estimates in June; unemployment rate unexpectedly dips to 4.2%

Job growth was 57,000. Analysts foresaw job growth of 113,000; prediction markets were more optimistic, looking for job growth above 125,000 but below 150,000.

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Meta surges on report it’s starting a cloud business to sell excess AI compute

The story of the hyperscalers in 2026 has largely been “the beatings will continue until the cash flow outlook improves;” this could help change the story for Meta. Or not.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits U.S. Capitol for Senate meetings

markets

Paige Oamek6/30/26

Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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