Wall Street Can’t Agree on Palantir Stock. Earnings Will Reveal Who’s Right.

Palantir (PLTR) will report second-quarter results on Aug. 3, and the analysts covering PLTR stock cannot seem to agree on what is coming. PLTR stock fell about 6% after Cleveland Research flagged signs of weak spending among Palantir’s commercial customers. The note was a rare cautious voice on a stock that has mostly drawn praise, and it was enough to worry investors. Baird analyst William Power pushed back the same day, however, reiterating an “Outperform” rating and a $200 price target. A day before that, Oppenheimer analyst Param Singh also kept an "Outperform" rating and a $200 target. Singh expects revenue to grow roughly 85% in Q2. For reference, Palantir’s own Q2 guidance points to revenue of about $1.8 billion, which would mean growth of roughly 80%. So, the analyst believes Palantir will beat its own forecast, something it has done quarter after quarter.

That pattern is why the bulls feel confident. Last quarter, Palantir raised its full-year revenue guidance by its largest amount ever, and management said the real problem is not demand but keeping up with it. CEO Alex Karp noted that U.S. growth is being limited because the company has been unable to fulfill demand. This goes directly against Cleveland’s warning about commercial spending softening.