Palantir analyst: “More downside ahead”
Palantir Technologies shares are seeing a bit of a respite Wednesday from the wave of selling that slammed them in early 2025. But the decline looks likely to continue eventually, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said in a note published Monday.
Citing rising interest rates — which seem to be crimping Palantir’s sky-high valuations — he also noted increased selling from company insiders:
“We highlight the increased frequency of insider selling via Rule 10b5-1 trading plans in the past 5 months as the stock has rallied. CEO Alex Karp has sold nearly 42 million shares of PLTR for >$2bn over the last 5 months. While he has already sold ~21% of his overall stake in PLTR, his current Rule 10b5-1 trading plan allows for another ~7mn shares to be sold through May 2025. This could create a further overhang for the shares. Meanwhile, other PLTR executives have sold nearly $600mn in aggregate over the past 5 months.”
Named for an SEC rule, 10b5-1 stock-sale plans are supposed to ensure company insiders don’t trade on insider information, by prearranging stock sales ahead of time. Academic research, however, has shown that in the past, executives were able to abuse such plans by setting them up on relatively short notice to capitalize on inside information. In recent years, the SEC has altered some of those rules to try to cut down on abuse.
The Wall Street Journal had some great reporting on the issues surrounding insiders and preset stock-sale plans a couple years back that’s worth a read.
Meanwhile, Jefferies’ Thill has an “underperform” rating on Palantir, and a price target of about $28 on the stock, implying he expects a nearly 60% drop.
Named for an SEC rule, 10b5-1 stock-sale plans are supposed to ensure company insiders don’t trade on insider information, by prearranging stock sales ahead of time. Academic research, however, has shown that in the past, executives were able to abuse such plans by setting them up on relatively short notice to capitalize on inside information. In recent years, the SEC has altered some of those rules to try to cut down on abuse.
The Wall Street Journal had some great reporting on the issues surrounding insiders and preset stock-sale plans a couple years back that’s worth a read.
Meanwhile, Jefferies’ Thill has an “underperform” rating on Palantir, and a price target of about $28 on the stock, implying he expects a nearly 60% drop.
