Palantir forecast 2023 revenue between US$2.18bil (RM9.5bil) and US$2.23bil (RM9.7bil), below the US$2.29bil (RM10bil) estimated by analysts, according to Refinitiv. — Reuters
NEW YORK: Palantir Technologies is forecasting its first profitable year and says it has slowed hiring, cut stock-based payouts and reduced cloud computing investments in response to lower spending from recession-wary businesses.
The forecast, coming on the back of better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, sent the data analytics software maker’s shares up 16% after hours and was set to add nearly US$3bil (RM13.1bil) to the company’s market capitalisation of US$15.6bil (RM68bil).
“As we look ahead to 2023, we will continue to exercise spending discipline, pace hiring and invest in high-priority areas, including our product offerings, building out our go-to-market strategy and technical roles,” said finance chief David Glazer.
The comments on cost discipline echo those from tech giants, including Meta Platforms and Alphabet Inc, which have shed thousands of jobs in the past few months.
Palantir executives also enthused over artificial intelligence in an interview, saying the rise of ChatGPT was proving to be a bright spot for the sector and would help its business in 2023.
“There are many different ways we can integrate with technologies like ChatGPT and apply those technologies to our customers’ data,” chief revenue officer Ryan Taylor told Reuters. He did not elaborate on how Palantir would do that.
Still, Palantir’s stock was up too much considering fourth-quarter profitability was driven by “below the line” adjustments like interest income and the quarter itself was in line with expectations, RBC analyst Rishi Jaluria said.
The company forecast 2023 revenue between US$2.18bil (RM9.5bil) and US$2.23bil (RM9.7bil), below the US$2.29bil (RM10bil) estimated by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
Revenue from newly public firms that use Palantir’s services has taken a hit as economic uncertainty torpedoes the market for US stock listings. That revenue is expected to nearly halve in the first quarter to US$16mil (RM69.6mil) from a year earlier.
Still, a jump in defence contracts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates with a rise of 18% to US$509mil (RM2.2bil). During this time, Palantir signed agreements with defence contractor Lockheed Martin and the United Kingdom military.
Excluding items, Palantir earned four US cents (17 sen) per share, compared to estimates of 3 cents per share. — Reuters
