Palantir Applied sciences CEO Alex Karp seems on a Bloomberg tv interview through the FoundryCon occasion in Palo Alto, California, on March 7, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
There is a new member within the checklist of the highest 10 U.S. expertise corporations by market cap.
Knowledge analytics software program vendor Palantir jumped about 8% on Thursday, bringing its valuation to $281 billion. That places it forward of Salesforce, which closed at a $268 billion and had beforehand been ranked tenth. Palantir surpassed legacy tech giants Cisco and IBM earlier this 12 months.
Microsoft tops the market cap checklist at $3.3 trillion, adopted by Apple and Nvidia.
Palantir’s induction follows a dramatic rally within the inventory worth, which has greater than quintupled in worth over the past 12 months. The shares have jumped 58% in 2025, positioning Palantir to be the highest S&P 500 performer for a second 12 months. The inventory has been a significant outlier in current months, persevering with to pop whereas its tech friends have been weighed down by tariff uncertainty and fears of an financial slowdown.
The Nasdaq is down 7% this 12 months even after bouncing again some over the previous three weeks.
Largest U.S. tech corporations by market cap
| Title | Market cap | Ahead price-to-earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | $3.26 trillion | 30.3 |
| Apple | $2.95 trillion | 27 |
| Nvidia | $2.86 trillion | 27.1 |
| Amazon | $2.04 trillion | 30.6 |
| Alphabet | $1.87 trillion | 16.8 |
| Meta Platforms | $1.5 trillion | 23.5 |
| Broadcom | $976.9 billion | 30.5 |
| Tesla | $917.4 billion | 137.4 |
| Oracle | $421.5 billion | 23.5 |
| Palantir | $281.2 billion | 196.9 |
| Salesorce | $268.4 billion | 25.1 |
Supply: CNBC
Palantir, based in 2003 by a bunch that included Peter Thiel, the corporate’s chairman, and CEO Alex Karp, has benefitted from a booming authorities enterprise, which grew 45% to $373 million final quarter. That features a $178 million contract to construct synthetic intelligence-enabled programs for the U.S. Military.
In an aminated shareholder letter hooked up to the corporate’s earnings report, Karp applauded his firm’s controversial protection enterprise and prompt that some former critics in Silicon Valley have “turned a nook and begun following our lead.”
“We word solely that our dedication to constructing software program for the U.S. navy, these whom we now have requested to step into hurt’s method, stays steadfast, when such a dedication is trendy and handy and when it isn’t,” Karp wrote.
However buyers who need in on the motion need to pay up, as a result of whereas Palantir has joined the highest tech ranks by market cap, it is a much smaller firm by way of gross sales and revenue. Salesforce, the cloud software program firm that it simply leapfrogged, generated over 10 instances extra income than Palantir previously 12 months, and is predicted to take action once more over the following 4 quarters.
That every one means Palantir has multiples which might be a lot larger than its large-cap tech friends. Palantir at present trades for 520 instances trailing earnings, virtually 200 instances ahead earnings, and 90 instances income.
Palantir vs. the Nasdaq this 12 months
“Fundamentals are clearly alive, however we predict irrational valuation,” wrote Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies, in a word on Could 6. He has the equal of a promote score on the inventory.
Among the many 10 different prime tech names, together with Salesforce, the typical trailing price-to-earnings a number of is about 58, and it is solely that top as a result of Broadcom and Tesla are each round 160. For ahead earnings, the typical a number of is roughly 37.5, inflated by Tesla’s 137 determine. And for income, the typical a number of is 10.2, with Nvidia carrying the best premium at 22.
Palantir shares slumped greater than 12% on Tuesday following first-quarter outcomes. The corporate topped income estimates however confirmed a deceleration in worldwide industrial gross sales that spooked some buyers. Accelerating development expectations have additionally left the corporate with a excessive bar to clear.
“You do not have to purchase our shares,” Karp advised CNBC’s Brian Sullivan on Wednesday. “We’re completely satisfied. We will companion with the world’s greatest folks and we will dominate. You will be alongside for the journey or you do not have to be.”
WATCH: Palantir CEO: We’re bringing income development at a lot decrease prices to regional banks
— CNBC’s Ari Levy contributed reporting
