Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.
Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) shares rallied over 30% Tuesday after the company’s fourth-quarter results and AI opportunity resulted in analysts rerating their estimates and price targets. Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bulked up on the shares on their way up, potentially reflecting the faith in the Alex Karp-led company’s disruptive potential.
What Happened: Ark, through its Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK), Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE:ARKW) and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKF), amassed 1,967,732 Palantir shares. At Tuesday’s closing price of $21.87, the firm added Palantir shares worth $43.03 million.
Palantir now accounts for 1.84% of Ark’s flagship ARKK exchange-traded fund. The stock is in the 21st position in terms of weighting in the ETF, with the value of holding roughly around $137 million. The ARKW carries roughly $24 million Palantir shares, which has a 1.58% weighting in the fund.
In ARKF, Palantir makes up 1.29% of weighting or $13.3 million.
Ark’s 13F filing in mid-January showed that the firm held 10.94 million Palantir shares valued at $187.80 million at the end of 2023.
Why It’s Important: Palantir reported late Monday fourth-quarter revenue that exceeded expectations, thanks to a 70% year-over-year increase in its U.S. Commercial segment revenue. The earnings per share was in line with estimates and the Karp-led company guided 2024 in line with estimates.
Investors also drew encouragement from the management commentary regarding the traction the company’s AI platform, called AIP, is getting with customers.
Following the results, analysts rushed to raise their opinion on the company and its fundamentals.
- Jefferies upgraded the stock from Underperform to Hold and lifted the price target from $13 to $22.
- Wedbush maintained an Overweight rating and upped the price target from $25 to $30.
- Citigroup upgraded from Neutral to Sell and doubled the price target from $10 to $20.
- Raymond James maintained Outperform rating and hiked the price target from $22 to $25.
- Mizuho maintained a Neutral rating and nudged up the price target from $16 to $18.
- RBC Capital maintained an Underperform rating
ARKK closed Tuesday’s session up 3.32% at $46.70, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Illustration made using Ark Invest photo.
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