Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, attended the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 20, 2026.
Dennis Bariboos | Reuters
Palantir It beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter forecasts as more companies and the U.S. government compete to buy artificial intelligence tools.
After the bell, the stock rose 5%.
Here’s how the company performed against LSEG’s estimates:
Earnings per share: 25 cents adjusted, 23 cents expected; Revenue: $1.41 billion, $1.33 billion expected.
Revenue increased 70% from $827.5 million in the same period last year. In the fiscal year, the Denver-based company’s sales totaled $4.48 billion.
U.S. government and commercial sector revenues increased to $570 million and $507 million, respectively. Those results steadily beat the expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
In an interview with CNBC’s Morgan Brennan, CEO Alex Karp called the results “absolutely the best performance in the technology industry in the last 10 years that I’m aware of.”
“If you’re not spending money on this, you’re not spending money on something to maintain momentum,” he added.
Looking ahead, the AI-powered software provider said it expects first-quarter revenue to be between $1.532 billion and $1.536 billion, well above the $1.32 billion predicted by FactSet. The company forecast fiscal 2026 sales in the range of $7.182 billion to $7.198 billion, beating FactSet’s forecast of $6.22 billion.
Palantir, which develops software and data tools that it sells to businesses and government agencies such as the Department of Defense, Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security, has thrived on surging demand for AI systems and widespread private investor enthusiasm.
Karp noted continued adoption of the company’s tools by the U.S. government, which saw 66% growth in the space.
“America is becoming more lethal, more confident, more disconnected from our adversaries and, frankly, from our allies,” he said.
Karp said demand for its products is so strong that Palantir is refraining from selling new products to allies because it is “deeply committed to the United States.”
Palantir will hold an earnings conference call with analysts at 5 p.m. ET.
Karp said many of those requests come from the Department of Defense. This summer, the company signed a contract worth up to $10 billion with the U.S. Army to support its software and data needs. Palantir also signed a $448 million contract with the U.S. Navy in December to accelerate shipbuilding production.
Palantir has faced backlash in recent weeks for its work with the Department of Homeland Security, particularly with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after federal agents shot and killed two protesters in Minneapolis.
“If you’re critical of ICE, you should be protesting for more Palantir,” he told CNBC. “In fact, at its core, our products require people to comply with Fourth Amendment data protections.”
Palantir’s U.S. commercial revenue more than doubled from last year, with remaining U.S. commercial contracts increasing 145% year-over-year to $4.38 billion. During this period, Palantir announced partnerships with leading AI chip manufacturers. Nvidia.
Net income totaled more than $608 million, or 24 cents per share. A year ago, the company reported net income of $79 million, or 3 cents per share.
Investors are setting high hurdles for Palantir as it prepares to report earnings. The stock, a favorite among retail investors, has gained 81% in the last year. However, some Wall Street analysts have expressed concerns about the high multiple, with the stock expected to fall by about 15% in 2026.
In November, short seller Michael Varley disclosed his bet on software analytics firm and chipmaker Nvidia. At the time, Karp told CNBC the move was “insane” and accused it of “market manipulation.”
The stock then finished its worst month in two years as investors moved away from AI stocks due to valuation concerns and concerns about bubbles.
In a letter to shareholders, Karp said Palantir’s profits are “pure and contrived” despite increasing pressure for AI companies to focus on fundamentals.
The company’s commercial division benefits from the need for software that provides structure to large language models, he added.
“The value created by these technological systems, which are not focused assiduously on the mice the cat actually catches, will eventually fade into the gray and be forgotten,” Karp wrote.
