Palantir (PLTR) Q1 2024 Earnings

Shares of Palantir fell about 7% in extended trading Monday after the defense technology firm reported weaker-than-expected guidance.

Here’s how the company fared compared to LSEG’s ratings:

• Earnings per share: 8 cents adjusted vs. 8 cents expected
• Proceeds: $634 million vs. $625 million expected

The firm, which builds big data and artificial intelligence software for governments and corporations around the world, also issued guidance for the upcoming second quarter and full year. Palantir expects second-quarter revenue to fall between $649 million and $653 million, down from $653 million expected by LSEG. The company guided for full-year revenue of between $2.68 billion and $2.69 billion, falling short of LSEG’s consensus estimate of $2.71 billion.

“We expect our US commercial business, which accounted for 24% of our revenue last quarter, to remain one of the most significant drivers of our growth in the near term,” CEO Alex Karp said in letter to shareholders.

“Warfare in this century will continue to be transformed by software,” Karp said. “The platforms used by our defense and intelligence partners pose a very real threat to the survival of our enemies,” he added.

Palantir reported $105.5 million in net income for the quarter, or 4 cents per share, compared with $16.8 million, or 1 cent per share, in the year-ago quarter. This marked the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of profitability on a GAAP basis.

Karp said it was a record profit. “By comparison, we now earn more profit in one quarter than the amount of revenue we generated in an entire year just over a decade ago,” he said.

Revenue of $634 million was up 21% year over year from $525 million.

The weaker-than-expected full-year guidance comes despite solid first-quarter revenue growth and after remarkable success in marketing its AI products to the government and private sector. Earlier this year, Palantir signed a $178 million contract with the US military to help develop a next-generation field-deployable sensor station.

Palantir conducts “bootcamps” with potential customers, allowing them to get hands-on time with Palantir’s technology. Karp said Palantir held more than 660 bootcamps in the first quarter.

“They need results now,” Karp said of Palantir’s customers. “And we believe we have the only platform that works.”