PLTR Stock: Palantir Earnings Beat as Revenue Jumps 96% and U.S. Commercial Sales Top Government

Palantir Technologies beat Wall Street’s third-quarter estimates after the bell on Monday, with revenue nearly doubling and its U.S. commercial business overtaking U.S. government sales for the first time. The early reaction in PLTR stock was mixed: CNBC reported shares dipped about 2% in extended trading, while Fortune said they climbed about 1.5% immediately after the figures came out, a sign of how jumpy trading was in the minutes after the release.

This article is for general information only and is not financial advice.

Palantir earnings: the numbers

Here is how the quarter compared with LSEG estimates, according to CNBC:

• Earnings per share: 44 cents adjusted vs. 41 cents expected
• Revenue: $2.31 billion vs. $2.18 billion expected

Revenue rose 96% from a year earlier and passed $2 billion in a quarter for the first time, the company said. Fortune noted that growth was well above the 63% Palantir posted a year ago and that the company had guided to roughly $2.16 billion for the quarter. Net income more than doubled to $1.13 billion, or 44 cents a share, from about $476 million, or 18 cents, CNBC reported.

U.S. commercial passes government

The standout figure was U.S. commercial revenue, which jumped 148% to $984 million from $397 million a year ago. U.S. government revenue rose 96% to $953 million. It is the first time the commercial side has been the larger of the two, a milestone for a company long known mainly as a government contractor.

Fortune reported that total contract value rose 6% to $2.9 billion and U.S. commercial contract value grew 11% to $1.5 billion.

Guidance raised

Palantir raised its outlook again:

• Q4 revenue: about $2.64 billion to $2.65 billion, roughly 88% growth at the midpoint, per Fortune; analysts had expected about $2.46 billion.
• Full-year 2026 revenue: $8.53 billion to $8.534 billion, about 91% growth, up from as high as $8.2 billion a quarter ago.
• U.S. commercial revenue: “in excess of” $3.56 billion for the year, up from $3.42 billion, according to CNBC.

PLTR stock and the AI trade

The report landed at a nervous moment for technology stocks. Fortune described Palantir as a bellwether for whether AI software can turn into revenue, and noted that the results came after a rough week in which Alphabet had its worst one-day drop on record and Intel fell about 29%. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1% on Monday and was down 4% over five days, Fortune reported.

Fortune put Palantir’s market value at about $430 billion, which leaves little room for disappointment. That helps explain why the first after-hours moves swung both ways despite a clear beat and raise.

What Alex Karp said

CEO Alex Karp was upbeat. “I don’t believe anyone’s had consistent results like this in the history of software AI, ever,” he told CNBC, adding that the business is succeeding without salespeople. In his letter to shareholders, quoted by Fortune, he wrote that “it would be an understatement” to call the quarter’s results “extraordinary.”

Karp also repeated his recent call to nationalize AI labs, describing it to CNBC as the “only realistic way” to manage liability, and warned: “Beware of thinking you can delay the future in AI.”

What to watch

Investors will watch whether PLTR’s after-hours moves hold into Tuesday’s regular session, which also brings the U.S. midterm elections. Beyond the next day, the key questions are whether U.S. commercial growth can keep running far ahead of the overall business and whether the broader selloff in AI-related stocks eases.