Barclays Upgrades Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) to “Strong-Buy”

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PLTR. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup cut shares of Palantir Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Northland Securities set a $200.00 target price on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Palantir Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Palantir Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.75.

Palantir Technologies Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of Palantir Technologies stock opened at $209.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $178.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.29. Palantir Technologies has a 1-year low of $106.37 and a 1-year high of $209.58. The company has a market cap of $502.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 178.68, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.60.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Palantir Technologies had a return on equity of 30.57% and a net margin of 49.01%. The company’s revenue was up 92.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Palantir Technologies will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palantir Technologies

In other news, insider Alexander Karp sold 492,348 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.79, for a total transaction of $86,057,506.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,432,258 shares in the company, valued at $1,124,294,375.82. This trade represents a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Lauren Friedman Stat sold 3,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $500,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,107 shares in the company, valued at $8,927,655. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 536,364 shares of company stock valued at $93,083,303 over the last ninety days. 9.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC lifted its position in Palantir Technologies by 67.5% in the 2nd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 10,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,283 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC now owns 188,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,957,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in Palantir Technologies by 7.2% in the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 43,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,090,000 after purchasing an additional 2,948 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its position in Palantir Technologies by 63.5% during the second quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 66,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,810,000 after buying an additional 25,995 shares during the period. Finally, V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at $539,000. Institutional investors own 45.65% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Palantir Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting Palantir Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs upgraded Palantir to Buy from Neutral and set a $230 price target, citing expanding demand for sovereign AI, customized applications and specialized industry software. The firm believes Palantir’s addressable market and competitive advantages can support further outperformance into 2027. Goldman Sachs Upgrades Palantir to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays initiated coverage at Overweight with a $265 target, adding another bullish analyst signal. The recommendation suggests Palantir’s accelerating commercial adoption and government relationships may justify continued premium growth expectations. Barclays Starts Palantir Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm is also being supported by Palantir’s reported operating momentum: revenue growth was approximately 93% year over year in the latest quarter, while 2026 guidance and U.S. commercial demand have been raised sharply. Commentary around expanding contracts, 157% net dollar retention and potential 2027 revenue well above consensus is strengthening the long-term bull case. Palantir The Next One Trillion Dollar Company
• Neutral Sentiment: Palantir’s rally has pushed the stock near its 52-week high ahead of the expected November 2 earnings report. Investors are increasingly focused on whether management can deliver another strong quarter and sustain its aggressive guidance trajectory.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst comparisons with ServiceNow and CrowdStrike highlight Palantir’s faster AI growth and government-driven advantages, but also emphasize that its valuation is substantially richer than many enterprise-software peers.
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts warn that the stock is overbought after a roughly 60% rally since the August earnings release. With a very high earnings multiple, even a modest slowdown, disappointing guidance or weaker contract activity could trigger a correction. Palantir Correction Risk
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity has consisted entirely of sales over the past six months, including transactions by senior executives. While these sales may be scheduled or compensation-related, they add a cautionary signal at elevated prices. Zacks also moved its stance to Hold, underscoring the valuation debate.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: PLTR) develops software platforms that help organizations integrate, analyze and act on large and complex datasets. Its principal platforms include Gotham, which is designed primarily for government and defense applications; Foundry, which supports commercial and institutional data operations; Apollo, which helps deploy and manage software across diverse environments; and the Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which connects large language models and other AI tools with an organization’s data and workflows.

The company serves government agencies, defense and intelligence organizations, and commercial businesses in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, energy and financial services.