The Palantir Paradox—Record Numbers and a Stock That Won't Cooperate

Summary

Palantir Technologies NASDAQ: PLTR just posted what may be the best quarter in its history as a public company. 85% revenue growth, operating margins approaching 50%, $8 billion in combined cash and short-term securities, and zero signs of stress anywhere in the business. The stock sold off anyway. For investors trying to make sense of that, one of the earliest retail bulls on the name says the reaction isn't a mystery—and it isn't a warning. Get Palantir Technologies alerts:Sign UpWhen Great Earnings Aren't EnoughPalantir Technologies TodayPLTRPalantir Technologies$137.15 +1.89 (+1.40%) As of 05/20/2026 04:00 PM Eastern52-Week Range$118.93▼$207.52P/E Ratio154.10Price Target$195.16 The market's short-term behavior has always been a poor predictor of business quality. Long-term Palantir bull Tom Nash, who has followed the company since its public debut, put it plainly: in the short run, the market is a voting machine. In the long run, it's a weighing machine, a line he credits to Benjamin Graham. A stock priced for perfection, like Palantir, often sells off even when it delivers perfection. High expectations were baked in ahead of the earnings report. Some investors took profits and moved on. That's not panic, it's rational portfolio management. Nash pointed to Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN as a parallel case: a company blowing out earnings while still lagging the broader S&P 500, largely misunderstood by the market in the short term. Mispricing is more common than investors tend to acknowledge. Why the Global Chaos Trade Favors PalantirNash spent years underweighting Palantir's government business in his thesis. That view changed as the global investment environment shifted. The AI arms race among governments is accelerating, and the U.S. Department of Defense has a historically consistent preference for a single primary supplier when it comes to mission-critical data infrastructure. That supplier is effectively Palantir. The broader geopolitical deterioration—supply chai...