Palantir’s 625% Run Up. Who Cares About Controversy?

Even amid the recent sell-off that dented the market, Palantir’s (NASDAQ: PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) stock has outperformed the S&P by a remarkably large margin. Shares are up 550% in the last few years. Just before the software market tanked, the figure was 685%. The S&P 500 is up 69% over the same period. Palantir’s market cap is $361 billion, which is nearly ridiculous compared to its revenue.

Palatir’s revenue in the recent quarter was only $1.4 billion, up 70% year over year. “Only” only works because of the revenue-to-market-cap figure. Net income was $609 million, up 43% for the same period. One badge management likes to show is US income, which rose 93% to $1.1 billion. Management takes the point because Palantir views itself as critical to America’s defence and, for the most part, sees America’s allies as sharing the US’s values. These are almost entirely NATO members.

The company writes, “Palantir was founded to support the United States, its institutions, and its people, and we have grown over the last twenty years due to our fierce commitment to those goals.

Although Palatir won’t think of it, revenue would almost certainly be higher if it moved outside its US market and NATO, but it won’t. In that way, investors can say Palantir is turning away revenue.

Does revenue always flatten when companies court controversy or narrow their markets? Apparently not. The Hill pointed out that “In 2025, Palantir’s federal contracts nearly doubled, rising to $970.5 million.” The primary controversy is the signing of a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Should shareholders and critics view Palantir as similar to Altria (NYSE: MO), which primarily sells tobacco products? There is a huge amount of evidence that Altria’s products kill people and make millions of people sick permanently. It goes without question that potential shareholders will not buy Altria stock for that reason. The Palatir/Altria arguments are not identical, but they get to the heart controversey vs. investment.

Altria’s attraction is its dividend, which sits at about 6%. Palantir is a stock that has taken a tremendous run, and, as far as Wall St. is concerned, will continue to do so.