It's not every day that a company gets compared with a soccer phenom and a legacy tech outfit, but then Palantir (PLTR) isn't your everyday company.
The Denver data-analytics-software company's stock price touched a record $149.57 on July 14, sparked by growing demand for its artificial intelligence tools.
💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter 💰
Government contracts accounted for roughly 55% of Palantir’s total revenue in 2024, and its software is used across several federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security.
On July 10, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised the investment firm's price target on Palantir to $160 from $140 while affirming an outperform rating on the shares.
Ives said recent checks and growing confidence in the company's AI strategy are key to the bull thesis on Palantir playing out for the next 12 to 18 months.
Analyst: Palantir is core winner in AI outlays
Wedbush says Palantir has a “golden path to become the next Oracle” over the coming years, referring to the legacy tech company.
While PLTR's valuation is expensive today, Ives said, he sees “the Messi of AI” as a core winner in the trillions of AI spending over the next few years, a nod to Argentine soccer sensation Lionel Messi.
More Palantir
- Veteran fund manager reboots Palantir stock price target
- As Palantir stock soars, veteran trader makes surprising call
- Palantir reacts to controversial New York Times allegations
Palantir remains one of its top names to own in the “Ives AI 30,” the analyst said. Its game-changing AIP strategy is quickly becoming a key foundational platform for enterprises developing uses for artificial intelligence in their operations and offerings.
The company's government work has also made Palantir a source of controversy.
Palantir is building a new tool to provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement with enhanced capabilities to support deportation efforts, Axios reported in May
Protesters across the U.S. have targeted Palantir due to its work with ICE, and demonstrators protested outside the company’s offices in several locations.
In the past Alex Karp, Palantir’s co-founder and chief executive, has said that Palantir is “proud to be working with the U.S. government” and that American companies have a “moral obligation” to support the country.
TheStreet Pro's Stephen Guilfoyle has strong feelings about Palantir as well.
While he's fond of his holdings in Rocket Lab (RKLB) and SoFi Technologies (SOFI) — “those two are almost like children to me” — the veteran trader said “they pale in comparison to the greatest trade I have made in my now almost 40-year career as a professional trader and almost 50 years since I started trading.”
TheStreet Pro's Guilfoyle: Palantir indispensable to key sectors
“Probably one of the real winners when it comes to monetizing their AI services platform,” he said. “The firm has made itself indispensable as a U.S. and allied defense contractor, and to nondefense government agencies and the corporate world as well.”
Guilfoyle, whose career dates back to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the 1980s, said he'd been waiting for someone else to compete effectively in this space.
Related: Veteran analyst sends bold message on Palantir stock target
“I once thought perhaps Snowflake (SNOW) would be the one, but still, as far as I can tell, nobody is even close,” he said,
Palantir is the only stock that Guilfoyle has named as his stock of the year two years in a row.
“From the time I initiated PLTR for Real Money Pro (now TheStreet Pro), PLTR is up a mere 2,192%,” Guilfoyle said. “Rock and roll, kids. Just for the record, I still get fired up about 10% and 20% gains in the stocks I trade.”
Guilfoyle cited the recent NATO 2025 Summit at the Hague that wrapped up in June, where the group approved an increase in defense spending for member nations to 5% of GDP, as demanded by President Donald Trump,
“Tanks, artillery, aircraft, naval craft, missiles and missile defense technology will all be in demand, though some of those technologies might have something in common with yesterday's roast beef,” he said.
Guilfoyle said that intelligence produced through data-based and AI-assisted analysis will only grow in significance. And not just for strategic purposes, “but because it is cost-effective relative to purchasing submarines and fighter aircraft.”
“This plays straight into the hands of a firm like Palantir,” he said. These nations have pledged to upspend on defense, yet most of them are also fiscally strapped. They, in my opinion, are going to spend where they get the most bang for their expense.”
Guilfoyle reiterated his price target for Palantir at $181, noting that “our current target is the high target on Wall Street and as usual most of Wall Street is still playing catchup.”
Related: Fund-management veteran skips emotion in investment strategy
