Palantir stock tanks by more than 15% after mixed earnings report

Big data and analytics company Palantir’s shares dropped by 15.8 percent after its fourth-quarter profit missed analyst estimates. Palantir’s revenue increased by 34 percent year-on-year to USD 433 million, as compared to analyst expectations of USD 439 million. On the other hand, it reported a loss of USD 156.19 million, larger than the loss of USD 148.3 million posted for the same quarter last year. Its earnings per share of 2 cents also fell short of analyst expectations of 4 cents. 

In the past year, Palantir has been focused on its commercial operations, with revenue from the segment up by 47 percent to USD 645 million year-on-year. The company’s core government segment also saw solid growth with revenue increasing by 26 percent. 

CEO Alex Karp spoke to analysts over a conference call assuring them that despite the company’s continued unprofitability, it was close to generating profits. Karp did not specify a timeline though.

The software company said it closed 64 deals valued at USD 1 million, among which 27 were worth USD 5 million or more and 19 were at USD 10 million or more. 

Palantir’s stock has already been on a downward trend, losing 21 percent of its value by January-end this year. Shares of the company are now trading at around USD 12 from its high of USD 45 in the beginning of 2021. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, COO Shyam Sankar said pandemic-related restrictions were to be blamed for hampering the business, particularly in Europe. Sankar stated that the region needed to reopen. “We need to work on Europe,” he said.