Markets
markets

Palantir analyst: “We acknowledge that we were wrong”

Morgan Stanley analysts, who have been some of Wall Street’s most outspoken skeptics on the run-up in the share price of Palantir, modified some of their views in the aftermath of the company’s knockout Q4 results.

Sanjit Singh, the lead analyst on the shares, upgraded his view from “underweight” to “equal weight” — effectively a move from “sell” to “hold” — and raised his price target on the shares from $60 to $95, writing:

Our concerns on valuation at ~50x CY26 sales and on the potential for slower growth in 2025 given tougher YoY compares suggested that the risk/reward was unattractive leading to our UW rating. However, one of the key principles of growth investing in software is before looking to valuation, to first assess whether the business is getting better or worse and, if getting better, to ask how durable that improvement is going forward.”

The business, he concluded, is clearly getting better, succinctly evinced by the 36% year-on-year revenue growth the company produced in Q4.

Despite an Ultra Premium Valuation, We See Lack of Downside Catalysts Over The Next 3-4 Quarters. Given the strength of the outlook, we acknowledge that we were wrong about our core fundamental catalyst of slowing growth below the 30% level due to the tougher compares in 2025. This leaves us with valuation as the primary remaining concern.”

Of course, valuation remains a worry for many of the analysts covering the shares. But the sheer force of the company’s recent results seems to be forcing some analysts to bite the bullet and change their views.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Oracle soars after TikTok signs agreement to sell its US operations to consortium that includes the cloud computing giant

Oracle is up 5.5% in premarket trading on Friday following yesterday’s news that TikTok owner ByteDance signed contracts with three major investors who are leading a joint venture to take over the short-form video app’s US operations, per a widely-cited company memo from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

The trio of parties in that consortium are the cloud computing company, private equity firm Silver Lake, and MGX, a tech investment company backed by Abu Dhabi.

Per reports, the structure of the deal is roughly aligned with what was outlined in September, which valued TikTok’s US operations at about $14 billion. Relative to some less-popular peers, that seems like a pretty low price tag, so picking up doomscrolling on a discount (or if you prefer, short-term video browsing on a budget) looks to be a worthy catalyst for the bump in the beaten-down hyperscaler’s shares. And that’s even before mentioning the potential for Oracle’s cloud business to enhance its preexisting relationship with TikTok.

CAMARILLO, CA FEBRUARY 09: A cannabis farm worker de-leafs cann

Trump signs executive order expediting reclassification of marijuana as a less dangerous drug

Rescheduling would lift regulatory pressures that have been weighing on US cannabis operators’ margins. Shares of weed companies, many of which don’t sell cannabis in the US, tumbled an hour before the executive order was signed.

markets

Rivian climbs as it rolls out a “universal hands-free” update and scores an upgrade from Baird

Shares of EV maker Rivian are on pace for their 10th best day of 2025 on Thursday, following an upgrade from Baird to “buy” from “hold” and the rollout of its new hands-free driving update.

Baird raised its price target on Rivian nearly 79% to $25, writing that “2026 is the year of R2.”

Meanwhile, Rivian says its new hands-free feature will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel across 3.5 million miles of US and Canadian roads.

Despite referring to it as universal hands-free driving, the EV maker says the feature will not stop or slow for traffic lights or stop signs, follow navigation systems, or make turns, and will function only on roads with visible lane lines.

Rivian revealed the update at its AI Day last week, when it also hinted at a robotaxi plan.

Meanwhile, Rivian says its new hands-free feature will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel across 3.5 million miles of US and Canadian roads.

Despite referring to it as universal hands-free driving, the EV maker says the feature will not stop or slow for traffic lights or stop signs, follow navigation systems, or make turns, and will function only on roads with visible lane lines.

Rivian revealed the update at its AI Day last week, when it also hinted at a robotaxi plan.

markets

The stock market loves your rising electricity bill

Utilities with a footprint in the massive PJM Interconnection, the country’s largest power grid, were up Thursday after prices set in a key auction hit a record high of $333.44 per megawatt-day.

Such power providers, including Talen Energy, Constellation Energy, and Vistra, saw tidy gains shortly before midday.

“This auction leaves no doubt that data centers’ demand for electricity continues to far outstrip new supply, and the solution will require concerted action involving PJM, its stakeholders, state and federal partners, and the data center industry itself,” Stu Bresler, set to become PJM’s chief operating officer next month, told Reuters.

As I’ve previously mused, political pushback from high power prices, partially created by the AI boom, could become a constraint on development of such sites. Democrats in the US Senate are now calling for hearings on the issue.

It’s fertile political soil. This morning’s US CPI report for November showed electricity prices up nearly 7% year over year, the highest since the tail end of the postpandemic inflation in April 2023.

“This auction leaves no doubt that data centers’ demand for electricity continues to far outstrip new supply, and the solution will require concerted action involving PJM, its stakeholders, state and federal partners, and the data center industry itself,” Stu Bresler, set to become PJM’s chief operating officer next month, told Reuters.

As I’ve previously mused, political pushback from high power prices, partially created by the AI boom, could become a constraint on development of such sites. Democrats in the US Senate are now calling for hearings on the issue.

It’s fertile political soil. This morning’s US CPI report for November showed electricity prices up nearly 7% year over year, the highest since the tail end of the postpandemic inflation in April 2023.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary 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, or Robinhood Money, LLC.