Palantir Technologies (PLTR) saw its shares rise modestly in post-market trading on Friday, February 20, 2026, following a significant government contract announcement and mixed corporate developments. The stock advanced 0.3% to $135.24 after a regular session that saw it trade between $131.23 and $136.38 on volume of approximately 54 million shares.
Major Government Contract Win
The primary catalyst was a report confirming the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has entered into a five-year blanket purchase agreement with Palantir. The deal, which could be valued as high as $1 billion, establishes terms and pricing to allow DHS agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection, to more efficiently procure Palantir's software platforms and related services. This agreement represents a substantial potential revenue stream for Palantir's government division, though actual funding will be disbursed through individual task orders over the contract's lifespan, with the Gotham and Foundry platforms expected to form the technical backbone.
Insider Activity and Analyst Action
Concurrent with the contract news, regulatory filings revealed several Palantir executives and board members, including Chief Executive Officer Alexander Karp, submitted Form 144 notices indicating potential plans to sell shares. The filings, which are required pre-sale notifications and do not confirm transactions have occurred, outlined possible sales ranging from tens of thousands to over 400,000 shares. This activity often draws scrutiny from investors concerned about insider sentiment.
Offsetting this, Mizuho Securities upgraded its rating on Palantir to Outperform from Neutral, maintaining a $195 price target. Analyst Gregg Moskowitz characterized the company as being "in a category of its own" and suggested the stock's recent decline—shares are down roughly 35% from a November peak—has improved the risk/reward profile by purging excessive valuation risk.
Strategic Partnership and Market Context
In other corporate news, Palantir and Rackspace Technology announced a partnership earlier in the week focused on deploying Palantir's Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) into governed production environments for business clients. Rackspace aims to expand its team of Palantir-trained engineers from 30 to over 250 within a year, emphasizing the demand for operational AI solutions.
The broader market environment presented headwinds. Data released Friday showed U.S. core PCE inflation rose 0.4% in December, exceeding estimates and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will delay interest rate cuts until at least June. This macroeconomic pressure weighs particularly on high-valuation software stocks like Palantir.
Competitive Landscape and Short-Term Catalysts
Palantir, which provides data integration and decision-support software primarily to government and large enterprise clients, relies heavily on public-sector contracts for growth. It competes in the federal space against specialized contractors and large technology firms offering bundled analytics, security, and cloud services in multi-year agreements.
Attention now turns to Monday's market open, where traders will assess the DHS deal's immediate impact and watch for the issuance of initial task orders. The next major inflation signal, the Bureau of Economic Analysis's January PCE report, is scheduled for release on March 13. While the DHS agreement caps a significant week, its ultimate value remains contingent on future agency orders, and planned insider sales may introduce near-term volatility for a stock already sensitive to contract news and analyst sentiment.
