Palantir raised its revenue outlook for the year and beat analyst forecasts, offering a bullish forecast for a polarizing company at the nexus of debates over data, surveillance and artificial intelligence-enabled warfare.
Annual revenue is forecast to total $7.65 billion to $7.66 billion, far exceeding analysts’ estimate and its own previous prediction of about $7.19 billion. Sales rose to a record $1.63 billion in the first quarter, the data analytics company said in a statement Monday. Wall Street had expected $1.54 billion.
However, the company posted disappointing US commercial sales for the first quarter. US commercial sales for the first quarter totaled $595 million, falling short of market expectations. US government revenue for the quarter increased to $687 million, beating analysts’ estimates of $610.5 million.
Palantir has long supplied US government agencies such as the Department of Defense and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and holds defense tie-ups with governments around the world. The company emerged as one of the biggest and earliest publicly traded beneficiaries of the new generative artificial intelligence boom. But its stock has been punished in recent months by investors who’ve pulled back on the software industry more broadly on fears of AI disruption.
The company’s shares have fallen 18% this year through Monday’s close. Its stock was sown about 2.4% in after-hours trading on Monday at $142.54.
Ahead of the Monday’s results, HSBC warned that Palantir was facing growing competition from rival technology companies as AI makes it easier for them to develop similar services.
Rising competition comes as the company has won a plethora of new contracts under the second Trump administration, spanning the Defense Department to the Department of Homeland Security.
Palantir Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp said in a letter to shareholders on Monday that the company’s US business is “erupting,” specifying that it has doubled in 12 months and remains the “constant core” of the company.
In April, Palantir published a 22-point manifesto on social media that predicted the imminent arrival of “a new era of deterrence built on AI,” maintaining that Silicon Valley engineers are obligated to participate in national security work.
The company’s nationalistic stance, the use of its technology for immigration enforcement raids and its leaders’ outspoken positions have regularly drawn rebukes. Critics have encouraged pension funds and US lawmakers to divest shares from the company.
The company has secured expanded backing from the Pentagon to continue to provide Maven Smart System, a digital battle command platform that US military forces are using in support of US combat operations against Iran. US President Donald Trump has praised the firm’s “war fighting abilities and equipment.”