Palantir raises annual revenue forecast on ‘unprecedented demand’ for AI platform

(Reuters) – Palantir Technologies raised its annual revenue forecast on Monday and said it would buy back shares worth up to $1 billion as the data analytics software maker enjoys “unprecedented demand” for its artificial intelligence platform.

The company launched the platform, which includes an AI assistant that can help enterprises make decisions about their operations, in April. Its shares have more than doubled since.

In a letter to shareholders, CEO Alexander Karp said the platform has users across over 100 organizations, including from automotive and healthcare industries, and that Palantir was in talks with more than 300 additional companies.

Investors expect Palantir to have an edge over others in working with large language models in heavily regulated industries such as defense due to its work with U.S. government bodies including the Central Intelligence Agency.

Palantir is ramping up its AI platform and hiring “a new class of technical talent”, which would push up its expenses in the third quarter, Chief Financial Officer David Glazer said in a interview.

The company, however, reiterated its target to turn in a profit each quarter of the year. Its second-quarter sales and third-quarter revenue forecast were also above estimates, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue from U.S. commercial customers jumped 20% in the second quarter ended June 30. Excluding the impact on revenue from strategic investments in special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC), it grew 37%, Glazer said.

“It (SPAC investment) makes it harder to see the strength of the underlying U.S. business,” he said.

Demand in Europe was muted due to macroeconomic uncertainty, he added.

Still, the company expects full-year 2023 revenue to come in above $2.21 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of $2.19 billion to $2.24 billion. Analysts were expecting $2.21 billion.

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)