Palantir Technologies

Creates tools for data analysis and visualization that help government agencies, banks and other organizations maintain information security, fight terrorism and identify fraud. The word Palantir in the title is borrowed from Tolkien: this is the name of the all-seeing stones from the Brotherhood of the Ring.

Palantir programs are able to absorb an incredible amount of information (in some cases up to a million gigabytes) from various databases, and allow you to search for the necessary facts, transform data and filter it by time and place of action. A very simple interface allows employees of the authorities to sift through information using terms understandable to them like "fraudster" or "suspicious account."

The company is rapidly expanding its customer base in Washington and the financial services industry. Palantir software helped to find information about suicide bombers in Iraq and identify abuses in spending "stimulus" in the United States^[1].

History and Performance Indicators

2023

Europe refuses to buy the company's technology

American companies in the field of defense technology are not allowed into the European defense market. Even with increased military spending since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, companies such as Palantir and Anduril have failed to gain a foothold on the continent.

December 2, 2023 chief executive of Palantir Technologies Inc. Alex Karp took a few minutes during a speech about the US military to lash out at European governments. While U.S. allies in Europe agreed to increase military budgets, Karp complained that they mostly gave contracts to local suppliers, suspending American companies like his.

"They're making terrible investments in technology," Karp said at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in California. 'I was shouting at people in Europe. But that's not going to change. "

Participation in combat attacks on the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Palantir from the United States, which develops software for analyzing big data, for the first time confirmed its participation in military attacks on the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Palantir CEO Alex Karp spoke about this in early February 2023.

According to Reuters, Palantir supports the US intelligence services, as well as Ukrainian structures. Its software, in particular, helps to analyze the balance of power during hostilities, plan operations and predict the conduct of combat.

American IT company Palantir admitted to participating in military attacks on the Russian Armed Forces

The company's software helps Ukraine target, for example, tanks and artillery, - said a representative of Palantir, whose words are quoted by the news agency.

In January 2023, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov at an event organized by Palantir in Davos said that the technologies of this company allow tracking the progress of special operations in real time. In particular, data can be collected from various sources to develop a strategy. Information can come from satellites, be extracted from social networks, etc. Artificial intelligence algorithms are used to process huge amounts of data.

The power of advanced algorithmic combat systems is now so great that it is equated with the presence of tactical nuclear weapons against an enemy with only conventional weapons. The public tends to underestimate that. Our opponents don't do this anymore, "Alex Karp said at a conference organized by Palantir.

The powerful Palantir software can be used by government agencies and for civilian purposes. An example is tracking undocumented immigrants, writes The Washington Post.^[2]

2021: $50m Gold Bars Purchase

Main article: Investment in gold

In mid-August 2021, Palantir bought $50 million worth of gold bars. The manufacturer of software for special services announced this as part of its quarterly reporting.

Palantir's move, CNBC reported, reflects a growing company holding money in unconventional assets in response to economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and governments' response to it. Some companies, such as Tesla, are betting on bitcoin, and Palantir is betting on gold.

In 2020, the price of an ounce of gold for the first time crossed the $2 thousand mark, as the pandemic worsened, and the US government continued to stimulate the economy. In 2021, investors began to express concerns about inflation more strongly and gold is sometimes seen as a means against inflation, despite the fact that prices decreased by 7% in 2021.

Loss-making software manufacturer for special services Palantir acquired gold bars worth $50 million

In August 2021, the company acquired 100 ounce gold bars worth $50.7 million. Such a purchase would initially be stored at a secured third-party facility located in the northeastern United States, Palantir said in its August 12, 2021 fiscal second quarter earnings statement.

The company's chief financial officer, Dave Glazer, told analysts that the company's revenues were growing for two consecutive quarters, and 20 new customers joined in the fiscal second quarter. The company remains unprofitable, as it was when it was a private company. Meanwhile, its financial holdings are increasing, thanks in part to the issue of shares and proceeds from the exercise of stock options.

That gave Palantir the ability to invest in its own customers, including early-stage companies that are very different from existing government clients like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It is possible that after investing in gold, Palantir may take up cryptocurrencies. In May 2021, after Glazer was asked at a meeting with analysts whether the company could have bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet, he gave a positive answer, and added that the company is already thinking about this and there are active discussions on this topic.^[3]

2020

Going public, estimated at $21 billion

On September 30, 2020, Palantir Technologies held an IPO. The company listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PLTR.

According to CNBC, after the opening of trading, the Palantir quotation rate amounted to $10, and by the close of the exchange - $9.5. By 17:40 Moscow time on October 1, the value of securities was $9.4. The market capitalization reached almost $21 billion, which is slightly more than the company's valuation that investors gave it following the financing round in 2015. At the same time, as the Financial Times newspaper wrote with reference to people familiar with the situation, Palantir was counting on a capitalization of $26 billion when entering the stock exchange.

Software developer for special services Palantir went public and was valued at $21 billion

The developer of software for special services conducted the so-called direct listing, in which the price of shares is set organically, that is, based on supply and demand. In an ordinary IPO, the initial value of securities is indicated in advance.

In the case of direct listing, underwriting banks are not involved and they are not paid a commission, and during the placement new shares are not issued, but shares of existing shareholders are sold. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing knowledgeable sources, problems arose with this during the placement of Palantir - many of its shareholders on the first day of trading faced technical problems that did not allow them to sell their shares, although by evening they managed to figure out most of these problems. The sale took place through the Shareworks platform launched by Morgan Stanley Bank.

Palantir CEO and co-founder Alex Karp, in an interview with CNBC TV on October 30, 2020, said he was skeptical of public markets, but it was important to allow employees to sell shares.

I believe that the people who built this company for more than 17 years deserved access to its funds, "he said.[4]

Raising $0.5 billion in investments

On June 18, 2020, Palantir Technologies announced the raising of 54 billion yen (about $500 million) from the Japanese insurance company Sompo Holdings. The maker of software for the CIA and other intelligence agencies has received financial support amid rumors of an upcoming release to the stock exchange.

Palantir did not name the value of the company following the investment transaction. According to Reuters, citing its sources, in the closed market, the company's shares are traded at marks at which the market value of Palantir is estimated at $10-14 billion.

Software developer for special services Palantir raised $0.5 billion and was valued at $20 billion

Previously, Palantir and Sompo formed a joint venture called Palantir Technologies Japan K. K. It engaged in servicing the Japanese government and commercial customers in Japan. Then the Japanese company Fujitsu invested $50 million in Palantir. Both Sompo and Fujitsu are customers of Palantir themselves.

Large investments from Sompo come amid a surge in demand for Palantir products that help companies and authorities fight the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic by collecting and analyzing big data.

In June 2020, Reuters, citing its own sources, reported that Palantir plans to contact US regulators for an initial public offer in the coming weeks.

Earlier it was reported that the company IPO is in no hurry with and intends to hold it in 2021-2022, focusing on attracting investments. The Sompo deal reduces Palantir's need to raise capital through an initial public offering. The company is considering a direct listing of its shares on the exchange as an option that will allow Palantir to bypass the roadshow and other formalities, IPO although this will not lead to the attraction of new funds, notes. Bloomberg

At the end of 2020, Palantir expects to break even and earn more than $1 billion in revenue.^[5]

2019

Losses of $0.6 billion

In 2019, Palantir received revenue of $742 million against $595 million a year earlier. Thus, annual sales from the manufacturer of software for special services increased by about a quarter.

At the same time, the company remains unprofitable. In 2019, its net losses amounted to $580 million, which almost exactly corresponds to the monetary losses of a year ago. Losses are largely due to growing costs, which in 2019 increased by another 2% and exceeded $1 billion.

Large costs are largely related to sales organization and marketing - this item of expenses in 2018 and 2019 was measured at about $450 million. Such spending accounted for about 61% of revenue at the end of 2019. The company has never had an annual profit since it was founded in 2003.

CIA software developer Palantir ends the year with $0.6 billion in losses

Palantir is known as a provider of software and services commissioned by government agencies. In 2019, government orders brought the company $146 million in revenue (45% in total turnover), and contracts with non-state companies - 177 million (55%). The vendor's revenue in the public sector jumped by 76%, and in the corporate sector - by 27%. Moreover, the lion's share (91%) of this increase was the merit of existing customers, not new ones. State customers, with whom Palantir began to cooperate until 2019, added $112 million to the company's sales, and corporate clients - $47 million. In total, the company had 125 customers by the beginning of 2020.

As the newspaper notes, TechCrunch the published figures differ from the statements of the leaders of Palantir, who have repeatedly talked about reducing dependence on the public sector. The company is often criticized for close ties with top-level government agencies, and under this pressure it refuses some government contracts. This happened with cooperation Customs and Border Protection USA with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service.^[6]

Google is abandoning the development of military AI in the Maven project. Palantir gets development contract

Founded by Peter Thiel, Palantir has filled the void created after Google dropped Project Maven for ethical reasons in early 2019. In the media, a whole performance was played on this topic.

Peter Thiel, the founder of Palantir and a longtime associate, Donald Trump called Google's withdrawal from the project tantamount to betrayal. In June 2018, speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in, Washington Thiel mentioned Google's decision to promote Project Dragonfly (Google's program to create censored search for), China while abandoning Pentagon the Project Maven project. He said he CIA should investigate Google.

Inside Palantir, where the privacy of customers who have gained access to the company's technology is tightly controlled, the project is called "Tron," after Steven Lisberger's 1982 film.

Tech companies must do their patriotic duty, according to Thiel and Palantir CEO Alex Karp. And for this it is necessary to do absolutely everything that the US government will say.

2018: Revenue growth in AI-based software platform solutions segment by 5.2%

2017: Penalty for discrimination against Asians

On April 25, 2017, Palantir Technologies agreed to pay a fine on charges that the U.S. Department of Labor discriminated against employees.

According to a statement from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), Palantir systematically infringed on candidates Asia when hiring developers. software Asian applicants were regularly screened out in interviews and as a result of a telephone survey, although they were not inferior in qualifications to white-skinned programmers, according to American authorities.

The company itself argues that these allegations have nothing to do with reality. At the same time, the vendor agreed to pay a fine of $1.7 million.

Palantir Technologies fined $1.7 million for discriminating against Asian programmers

We settled this claim without any obligation to focus on our work. We continue to support our cadres and are pleased to have resolved this case, "the statement said.

Acting OFCCP Director Thomas Dowd noted that the department thanks Palantir for resolving the conflict.

According to Reuters, Palantir, a contractor for the federal government (supplies the FBI, the army, etc. Software and data analysis services), it is strictly forbidden to discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or against military veterans.

The OFCCP filed an administrative lawsuit against Palantir after the parties failed to settle the disputed situation without involving the court. At the same time, the company was threatened with the withdrawal of existing government contracts and exclusion from the list of applicants for new orders.^[7]

2016: IPO plans

In late October 2016, Palantir CEO Alex Karp announced that the company was considering going public. Investors estimate the vendor at $20 billion. In addition to the IPO, Palantir is looking into issues such as selling the company's stake to an investment fund or buying back employee shares, Karp told WSJ.D Live's IT conference.

2015: $880 million investment

On December 23, 2015, Palantir Technologies announced an investment of $880 million, which made the company the fourth most expensive IT startup in the world. This was reported by CNBC with reference to a document sent by an American software manufacturer to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

As part of the Palantir funding round, which was launched back in July 2015, by early December the company received $679.8 million from investors, and after about three weeks - another $200 million.

As part of the latest round of funding, Palantir raised $880 million in investments.

Taking into account these investments, Palantir's business valuation exceeded $20 billion, which is the fourth value indicator among technology startups. By December 2015, only the rental service, Airbnb the Chinese manufacturer smartphones Xiaomi and the online taxi ordering service Uber are worth more. The latter in early December 2015 was estimated at more than $60 billion.

Since its founding in 2004 and until December 2015, Palantir has raised a total of over $2.3 billion in investments. The company does not disclose exactly what goals the new money will go from investors. Most likely, Palantir is investing in further improving its technologies, CNBC notes.

Palantir is considered one of Silicon Valley's most secretive start-ups, as its software is used by intelligence agencies to fight terrorists and banks to combat hacking and insider trading.

One of Palantir's earliest investors is CIA venture capital fund In-Q-Tel. In addition, Founders Fund and Tiger Global Management funds, known for investments in Russian Internet business (Yandex, Mail.ru Group), were invested in the company at different times. ^[8]

Notes