Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) closed Thursday at $129.30, marking a 14.5% gain from its June 26 close of $112.93. The rally outpaced the broader tech sector, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) rising just 6.1% over the same period. The stock's performance was driven by company-specific catalysts rather than sector-wide momentum.
Analyst Upgrade and Price Target
Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson raised his price target on Palantir to $175, up from $165, representing a 35% upside from Thursday's close. He upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, citing the most attractive valuation in a while. Luria highlighted Palantir's strengths in data control, security, and model flexibility as key competitive advantages.
NVIDIA Partnership Boosts Sentiment
On June 29, Palantir and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced a collaboration to run NVIDIA AI and Nemotron open models in sovereign AI setups, targeting U.S. government agencies and critical infrastructure. The package integrates Palantir's AIP, Ontology, Foundry, and Apollo with NVIDIA's AI platform. CEO Alex Karp stated the deal aims to remove security risks of closed models, while NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang called open-source AI foundational to national security.
Trading Volume and Technicals
Palantir's four-day average volume during the holiday week was 49.7 million shares, about 9.4% higher than the 65-day average of 45.47 million. While not frenzy-level, the elevated volume suggests growing investor interest. The stock remains well below its 52-week high of $207.52, despite the recent rally. Its price-to-earnings ratio stands at 145.68, reflecting ongoing valuation concerns.
Strong Earnings Backdrop
Palantir's first-quarter revenue hit $1.633 billion, up 85% year-over-year. U.S. commercial revenue surged 133%, while U.S. government revenue grew 84%. The company raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $7.650 billion-$7.662 billion and projected U.S. commercial revenue growth of at least 120%. These results provide a fundamental underpinning for the bullish thesis.
Market Context and Outlook
Investors will monitor U.S. services PMI data on Monday and Federal Reserve meeting minutes on Wednesday for broader market cues. Palantir's next earnings date has not yet been confirmed. The stock's rally faces a test when full trading resumes after the holiday, with volume expected to pick up. The main bear argument—that Palantir is overvalued and AI spending could crowd out software budgets—remains, but Luria counters that Palantir's orchestration layer allows clients to avoid vendor lock-in, a compelling value proposition.
