Palantir just delivered what CEO Alex Karp is calling "indisputably the best results" in tech this decade. The AI-powered software firm crushed fourth-quarter expectations with $1.41 billion in revenue - a 70% jump from last year - as both government agencies and corporations race to deploy its AI tools. Shares surged 7% after-hours as the company issued guidance that blew past Wall Street's projections, signaling the AI spending wave shows no signs of slowing.
Palantir just rewrote the playbook for AI earnings. The Denver-based software firm reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.41 billion, demolishing Wall Street's $1.33 billion estimate and marking a staggering 70% surge from the $827.5 million it pulled in a year ago. Earnings per share hit 25 cents, beating the 23-cent consensus. Shares jumped 7% in after-hours trading as CEO Alex Karp declared the results "indisputably the best" he's seen in tech over the past decade during an interview with CNBC's Morgan Brennan.
The numbers tell a story of AI adoption accelerating faster than almost anyone predicted. U.S. government revenue climbed to $570 million while commercial revenue hit $507 million, both crushing FactSet estimates. For the full fiscal year, Palantir racked up $4.48 billion in sales. But it's the forward guidance that has investors buzzing - the company projects first-quarter revenue between $1.532 billion and $1.536 billion, obliterating the $1.32 billion analysts expected.
For fiscal 2026, Palantir guided to $7.182 billion to $7.198 billion in revenue, a figure that towers over the $6.22 billion Wall Street had penciled in. "If you're not spending it on this, you're not spending on something that is part of keeping up with momentum," Karp told CNBC, making clear that AI investment has become a competitive imperative rather than a discretionary expense.
