- Palantir's first-quarter revenue increased 21% year-over-year, primarily from U.S. customers.
- The chief financial officer said “European headwinds” led to a decline in overseas revenue.
- CEO Alex Karp maintained his support for Israel and once again condemned the campus protests.
Palantir raised more money than ever before in the last quarter, much of it from customers in its own backyard, according to the company's earnings released Monday.
Based in Denver, Colorado Palantir, which develops software for civilian and military purposes, posted revenue of $634 million in the quarter that ended March 31, an increase of 21% from a year earlier. In the United States, which faces headwinds in international markets, much of its revenue comes from growth in both the civilian and military sectors.
“I think it's fair to say we won the first quarter in the U.S. by a landslide. We're on fire,” Palantir CEO Alex Karp said on Monday's earnings call.
Palantir's best-known business is supplying technology to the U.S. government, which grew 12% year over year to $257 million. The company's private sector business is growing even more rapidly. U.S. commercial revenue from software sales to 262 companies, including Cleveland Clinic and General Mills, rose 40% from a year earlier to $150 million, according to Monday's earnings.
Karp said on Monday's call that Palantir is doubling down on the U.S., including defense and AI.
The company reported strong numbers in the U.S., but international results were lower compared to last quarter due to accounting moves and “continued headwinds in Europe,” Chief Financial Officer Dave Glaser said. he said during a conference call on Monday.
First quarter international commercial revenue was $149 million, down 3% from the previous quarter but up 16% year over year. Additionally, international government revenue was $79 million, down 9% quarter over quarter, but up 33% year over year.
Approximately 16% of Palantir's total business comes from Europe.
“Europe is slowly moving towards 0% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the next few years. This is a problem for us. There is no easy solution to this,” Glaser said.
The software maker's shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading, but are up 52% this year, riding the wave of artificial intelligence.
Because of its government activities, Palantir has long been a lightning rod for national and international political controversy.
The company supplies AI models to U.S.-allied militaries, including those in Israel and Ukraine. Karp said in March that employees had left the company over their stance on Israel.
“If you're in a position that doesn't come at the expense of losing employees, it's not the position,” he said in March.
Karp addressed the issue during the call, saying Palantir is the first call to arms for Western allies in a global conflict.
“The central risk to Palantir, the United States, and the world is the regressive thinking that is corrupting and corroding our institutions, which call themselves progressive.” “But it's actually a kind of flimsy paganism.”
The CEO slammed the wave of pro-Palestinian student protests at U.S. universities during a conversation with Palantir's senior policy advisers at a technology conference in Washington, D.C., last week. He brought up the issue again in his earnings conference.
“The greatest institution of our time is defunct, discriminatory and dysfunctional,” he said on a conference call.
The company said it expects second-quarter 2024 sales to be between $649 million and $653 million, an increase of nearly $20 million from first-quarter sales.
