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Palantir Shares Rise on Israel Iran war
(Getty Images)

Palantir hits new highs amid Israel-Iran conflict

The fighting between Israel and Iran suggests the company’s Middle East business will continue to grow.

Matt Phillips

Palantir rose to a new high in early trading on Monday, after fighting between Israel and Iran worsened over the weekend.

The defense, data, and AI software firm has deep commercial roots in the region, and has recently spotlighted growth in sales to Middle Eastern nations — including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — as a strength. The outbreak of air strikes suggests that spending is likely to grow.

The company has surged this year, as it’s at the epicenter of a number of stories that have driven market excitement, especially from retail shareholders.

Palantir is seen as a beneficiary of AI technology, and it has a growing software business for unmanned drone aircraft — both areas of investor excitement. It’s also a top Trump trade, having benefited from its close proximity to the administration: Republican mega donor Peter Thiel is Palantir’s largest individual shareholder, a cofounder, and helped bankroll the political career of Vice President JD Vance, a former Thiel employee.

With gains of more than 75% on the year, Palantir is on track to be the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 for the second consecutive year, following its 340% gain last year.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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