MIAMI, May 4, 2026, 16:07 EDT
- Palantir’s first-quarter revenue hit $1.633 billion, an 85% jump year-over-year. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.33 per share.
- The company now sees 2026 revenue reaching between $7.650 billion and $7.662 billion—well ahead of its previous range of $7.182 billion to $7.198 billion.
- The report arrives just as investors are weighing if Palantir can avoid getting swept up in the broader software selloff linked to anxiety over AI-driven upheaval.
Palantir Technologies topped analysts’ estimates for both sales and profit in the first quarter, and on Monday lifted its full-year forecast. The company’s upbeat results offered investors another sign that appetite for its artificial-intelligence software is holding up, even as much of the software sector struggles.
Palantir’s earnings are grabbing attention now, as the company stands in for a bigger debate on Wall Street: does AI actually boost software sales, or just open the door for upstarts to erode market share? Earlier Monday, Bloomberg noted Palantir shares were down almost 17% for the year, caught in the broader selloff that’s hammered software names on worries AI might drag on profits across the group.
Palantir pulled in $1.633 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, topping the $1.54 billion analysts had been looking for, according to Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings per share landed at $0.33, beating the $0.28 consensus.
The numbers out of the U.S. carried the load. Palantir posted U.S. revenue of $1.282 billion—more than twice last year’s figure. U.S. commercial sales surged 133% to $595 million, while U.S. government revenue climbed 84% to $687 million. Its Artificial Intelligence Platform, or AIP, is meant to move AI out of pilot mode and straight into daily workflows for clients.
“Momentum surged,” Chief Executive Alex Karp said, highlighting what he called “an accelerating U.S. market.” Palantir reported its Rule of 40 score hit 145%—that’s a software industry metric combining revenue growth and adjusted operating margin. Business Wire
The company is now projecting second-quarter revenue in the range of $1.797 billion to $1.801 billion, with adjusted operating income expected between $1.063 billion and $1.067 billion. For 2026, adjusted free cash flow guidance moves up to $4.2 billion to $4.4 billion. U.S. commercial revenue is on track to break above $3.224 billion, which would mark growth of at least 120%.
Palantir’s latest outlook is noticeably firmer than what it put out three months back, when it called for 2026 revenue between $7.182 billion and $7.198 billion, and at least 115% growth from U.S. commercial sales. This updated guidance gives executives more latitude to make their case that Palantir isn’t just benefiting from a temporary spike in AI spending.
Deal volume barely budged. Palantir locked in 206 contracts of $1 million or more last quarter—47 of those topping $10 million. Total contract value, which captures the full potential value at signing, shot up 61% year-on-year, hitting $2.41 billion.
Some analysts were looking for a beat. Daniel Ives at Wedbush, speaking ahead of the results, called Wall Street’s $1.54 billion revenue target “beatable” due to AIP’s value proposition for customers, according to Investor’s Business Daily. The company ended up posting a top line that surpassed that by roughly $93 million. Investors
The risk isn’t off the table. HSBC’s Stephen Bersey cut Palantir to Hold from Buy just before the results, pointing to OpenAI’s adoption of similar forward-deployed engineering tactics and warning that Anthropic’s gains may be coming at Palantir’s cost. The challenge now, even with the earnings beat: Can Palantir defend its pricing and growth as AI-native competitors close in on enterprise deals?
Valuation poses its own set of challenges. Prior to the earnings release, Investopedia noted that options traders had priced in a roughly 9% swing in either direction by week’s end—that’s a clear signal of expectations for volatility. Even with solid results, bulls may find it tough to win the argument if the market feels the stock is already factoring in too much growth.
Palantir will go over its earnings during a 5 p.m. ET webcast. Investors are watching for clues on whether U.S. commercial growth stays above 100%, how solid government contracts look, and if management views OpenAI and Anthropic as real risks or just more players in an expanding AI landscape.
