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Palantir cofounder Cohen sells over 20% of his stake in planned sale

Palantir cofounder and director Stephen Cohen sold shares worth more than $310 million over three days last week, as part of a trading plan adopted in December.

Matt Phillips

After a couple days of solid gains, Palantir is once again among the large-cap laggards putting downward pressure on the blue-chip S&P 500 index Tuesday.

There’s little fundamental news on the stock, though eagle-eyed equity analyst Brent Thill over at Jefferies spotlights more selling of the stock by company insiders. (Thill was one of the first to take note of a surge of selling by cofounder and CEO Alex Karp over the past year that reduced his holdings in the data analytics software company by 20%.)

Not to be outdone, Stephen Cohen, Palantir cofounder as well as president, secretary, and board member, sold more than 20% of his stake in the company over three days last week, according to Thill:

“We highlight a resumption of PLTR’s insider selling via Rule 10b5-1 trading plans in 2025, with co-founder and President Stephen Cohen selling $310M worth of shares over the last few days (~23% of his overall stake in PLTR).”

To be sure, the company signaled that some selling could be coming, writing in its annual report that Cohen had established new trading plans that would allow him to sell more than 4 million shares through September, without running afoul of Rule 10b5-1, the SEC rule on insider trading. (Karp also disclosed new stock-selling plans.)

Cohen’s sales last week represented the exercise of options for 3.75 million shares, which he immediately sold.

What’s to be made of all this selling? As we’ve said before, there are all sorts of reasons why insiders sell. So it’s a bit of a stretch to make these sales out to be a sign of things to come for Palantir shares.

After all, Cohen also dumped nearly 4 million shares in conjunction with the company’s IPO on September 30, 2020, generating proceeds of about $38 million.

That’s not a bad day’s work. But if he’d held onto that pile of stock, it would be worth more than $330 million now. According to FactSet data, Cohen has sold stock worth more than $750 million since the company went public. Karp has sold more than $3 billion worth.

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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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Rocket Lab deal lifts space stocks

Shares of Rocket Lab are surging after announcing an $8 billion acquisition of satellite communications operator Iridium Communications, helping lift a broader basket of space-related stocks as investors piled back into the sector.

Planet Labs, AST SpaceMobile and Redwire all traded higher alongside Rocket Lab, extending gains in an industry that has drawn enhanced investor attention in recent months in light of the strategic importance that governments place on space and satellite communications infrastructure.

In a presentation, Rocket Lab’s management called the purchase “a shortcut” for its satellite communications business.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iridium shareholders will receive $27 in cash and Rocket Lab stock, valuing Iridium at $54 per share. Backed by a $3.6 billion bridge loan committed by Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, Rocket Lab absorbs Iridium’s globally licensed spectrum and an active base of 2.5 million subscribers.

Rocket Lab has also remained one of the most active launch providers in the sector. The company completed its 12th launch of the year last week, maintaining one of the highest launch cadences among commercial space companies.

Today's rally helps offset a brutal stretch for the group. Rocket Lab shares had fallen over 35% over the prior month, while Planet Labs stock was down more than 40% and AST SpaceMobile stock was down around 30% over the same window.

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Comcast shares rise on news of NBCUniversal spinoff deal

Comcast rose on the news that the telecom behemoth is spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky from its cable portfolio. 

Comcast initially jumped up to 17% in early trading, with the deal leaving management to focus on its core verticals of cable, wireless, and business services. 

NBCUniversal and Sky will form a new publicly traded company, similar to Versant Media, the holding company of CNBC and MS NOW that Comcast officially spun off in January. Bravo, one of the most lucrative properties that remained at Comcast, will remain part of NBCUniversal in the deal. The Universal theme parks and studios will also come with the new spinoff entity, along with Telemundo and Peacock.

Mike Cavanagh, the co-CEO of Comcast, will become the CEO for NBCUniversal, according to CNBC. 

The spinoff will be completed in about a year, according to a Comcast company statement. Its shareholders will also own shares in NBCUniversal, according to the same statement.

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