New York, Feb 24, 2026, 16:21 ET — After-hours
- Palantir shares fell with a broad selloff in software stocks.
- Fresh AI headlines kept traders focused on disruption risk across enterprise software.
- The next cues: big AI earnings midweek and U.S. inflation data on Friday.
Palantir Technologies Inc. shares fell 3.4% to $128.75 in Tuesday’s regular session, knocking the data-analytics firm’s market value to about $433 billion. The stock trades at roughly 395 times trailing earnings.
The move matters now because investors have been repricing software names as they weigh how quickly new AI tools could automate work that sits behind subscription fees. The swings have been sharp, and they have not stayed contained in one corner of tech.
Palantir sits in the middle of that argument. It sells software meant to help customers use data and deploy AI in day-to-day operations, but its shares still get hit when the market starts treating software as the part of the supply chain that could be “disrupted.”
The selling was not just in one name. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF fell 4.7%, while Snowflake dropped 8.6%, Datadog slid 11.3% and CrowdStrike lost 9.9%; the S&P 500 tracker SPY slipped 1.0% and the Invesco QQQ ETF fell 1.2%.
One trigger for the recent moves has been a viral “what-if” scenario from Citrini Research that outlined a 2028 downturn with unemployment rising to 10.2% as AI displaces parts of software work. “Software stocks and the IGV particularly are just massively oversold,” said Dennis Dick, chief market strategist at Stock Trader Network. (Reuters)
Anthropic added to the churn on Tuesday when it unveiled new “plug-ins” — add-ons designed to connect its Claude model to business tasks — and said it built them with partners including LSEG, FactSet, Salesforce’s Slack and DocuSign. (Reuters)
Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, said it is “still early in the process” for these tools and warned that “you definitely need human intervention” as firms try to use them at scale. Ken Polcari, chief market strategist at SlateStone Wealth, said fatigue is setting in, even as some battered names are starting to look “like opportunities.” (Reuters)
The anxiety has shown up in sector performance. The U.S. software shares index is down 24% so far this year, as big money rotates toward parts of the AI supply chain and away from companies seen as exposed to automation risk. Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday are the next major test for that trade, and Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research said he still sees AI as boosting productivity rather than wiping out workers. (Reuters)
Palantir has its own growth story in the background. The company said earlier this month it forecast 2026 revenue of $7.182 billion to $7.198 billion, after reporting quarterly results that topped expectations. (Palantir Investors)
But the downside case is straightforward: a premium multiple can turn into a liability fast if customer budgets tighten, contracts slip or the market decides “AI disruption” means lower software pricing power across the board. For Palantir, that can mean the stock trades on sentiment before it trades on fundamentals.
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s session, traders will be watching for any sign the software rout is exhausting itself. They will also look to U.S. producer price data due Friday, Feb. 27 — a gauge of wholesale inflation that can shift rate expectations — for the next macro push. (Bls)
