Palantir CEO Quotes Nixon and Jesus In Same Earnings Call, Wall Street Tanks Stock -10%...

Well, in case you missed it friends… Palantir dropped its earnings. And the numbers were absolutely on fire. Revenue up 39% year-over-year, beating Wall Street’s consensus. EPS landed exactly where it was supposed to. Oh, and they raised guidance for the year. And yet, the stock still had its teeth kicked in, down 10% in after hours like it just confessed to war crimes.

Why? 

(Source: Giphy) 

First off, the sell-off really had nothing to do with Palantir’s performance at all. Instead, it’s more about the market being a paranoid, emotionally stunted mess that has already priced in perfection and is now panicking that the next quarter might only be almost perfect. Palantir’s been riding a 65% gain this year like they just discovered fire, with the stock experiencing a euphoric effect—completely divorced from valuation reality. 

Which means, Alex Karp’s science experiment hasn’t necessarily been trading on fundamentals. It’s been trading on energy from Reddit posts written by people who think watching “Zero Dark Thirty” twice makes them an expert in defense contracting. (Scour Wall Street Bets and you’ll see what I mean). But alas, on the earnings call, the philosopher Karp quoted Nixon and the New Testament within minutes of each other. Then he proceeded to call Palantir “the operating system for the modern enterprise in the era of AI,” which is either profound or meaningless depending on how much caffeine you’ve had this morning. However, Wall Street was too timid to do anything with it. 

(Source: Giphy) 

For instance, the stock’s trading at a P/E ratio of 189, which is so high it should come with a helmet and a waiver. Additionally, the PEG ratio for 2025 is 5.5. Anything over 1 is considered rich. Five and a half is a joke. A threat. A dare. And now analysts are forecasting that EPS growth is going to slow from 62% to 38% over the next two quarters. Still strong, but not enough to justify the kind of valuation usually reserved for messianic cult leaders and biotech companies that pretend they’ve cured death.

The other issue some are raising is the fact that no one really understands what the company does. “AI-powered operating systems for the modern enterprise”? Honestly, what does that mean? Half the revenue still comes from government contracts, which is great until the government remembers it’s broke and decides to cut back. When asked about the incoming budget scalpel from Washington’s Department of Government Efficiency, Palantir executives simply beat around the bush, failing to answer the question as a whole. 

(Source: CNBC) 

So no, the sell-off isn’t about Palantir missing earnings. They didn’t. This is about a stock trading like it’s God’s gift to software getting smacked by the reality that growth is slowing, the hype has peaked, and the CEO might be clinically allergic to giving a straight answer.

As for the retail crowd, they could care less. They’re still out here praising the stock on twitter and calling Palantir “the last honest company in America.” But the institutions? The ones who actually move the market? They’re not buying the act anymore. Not because Palantir itself is broken, but because the fantasy is. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Now of course, we’ll see what today’s price action brings us, but the only thing that was straight on this earnings call were the numbers. Anything after that was fluff, long-winded, and everything but direct. Meaning, do what you will with this information and place your bets accordingly. Today will definitely be interesting. Until next time, friends…

P.S. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you liked getting rekt. Let’s face it, retail investors get the short end of the stick all day everyday. It’s the smart money’s world, and we are just living in it–only useful when it comes to liquidity purposes in the market. Meaning, if you’re as pissed off as I was when I found out Milli Vanilli was lip syncing the whole time, then it’s time to go from investing blind, to investing smart. Luckily for you, the key is right here as a Stocks.News premium member. Click here to see exactly how our premium members are printing while others quake in the face of today’s market chaos. 

Stocks.News does not hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.