Palantir slips after Friday’s record high
Palantir closed at a record high on Friday and made a run for another new high in early trading Monday, before weak reports on the US industrial economy seemed to soften up the market as a whole, taking Palantir down with it.
A favorite of retail traders, shares of the defense data and AI software firm is vying with NRG to be the top performer in the S&P 500, with both up more than 70% year to date.
But Palantir is a clear winner in terms of having the most elevated valuation in the index, trading at a multiple of 212x expected earnings over the next 12 months, higher even than the 156x multiple of fellow retail favorite Tesla, which is second in the S&P 500 by that metric.
That suggests Palantir shares are keying off of euphoric market sentiment far more than the nuts and bolts of the business. It seems to be working out fine for shareholders for now, but sentiment can be fickle.