Palantir climbs toward a fresh record high ahead of earnings report

Data, defense, and AI software company Palantir Technologies is due to report quarterly results after the bell Monday, amid soaring expectations that are putting the stock on track to close at a new record high.

Palantir — which rose 340% in 2024 — continues to be a startling outperformer, rising more than 150% so far this year. The market gains for the stock over the last two years are now approaching 1,000%.

That gain has come as the company has trounced quarterly expectations for eight straight earnings seasons. (Today’s report would make it nine in a row.)

But that, of course, that has resulted in Wall Street setting the earnings bar still higher.

Here’s what Wall Street analysts now expect Palantir to report:

• Q3 sales of $1.09 billion, up about 50.5%, according to FactSet data. (That would be Palantir’s fastest quarterly growth rate since Q2 2021.)

• Adjusted earnings per share of $0.17, up ~68% from Q3 2024.

• About $490 million in commercial sales of software, much aimed at helping private corporations better take advantage of AI — which would be a 55% rise year over year.

• Roughly $603 million in sales to governments, up 48% compared to last year.

The question, of course, is at what point expectations about Palantir start to become detached from the reality of what the company can actually achieve, which seems almost certain to happen at some point.

But indications coming from the company — which has upped its earnings guidance over the last year — and the soaring stock price suggest few see that happening imminently.