Palantir raises FY26 revenue guidance after 96% third-quarter growth

Palantir posts 96% third-quarter revenue growth

Palantir reported third-quarter revenue of $2.31 billion, up 96% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $0.44 per share. Zacks said the results exceeded top- and bottom-line expectations by 6% and 7%, respectively. U.S. commercial revenue rose 148% to $984 million as demand for Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform, or AIP, accelerated.

The results came after the market close Monday, and both Palantir and Apple shares were retreating Tuesday in the report’s Nov. 4 investment-ideas feature.

Management raises annual targets

Palantir management raised its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to $8.53 billion, representing 91% growth. That was above the Zacks Consensus forecast of $8.21 billion, or 83% growth, as cited in the feature.

Management expects fourth-quarter revenue of $2.65 billion, ahead of the Wall Street forecast of $2.45 billion, or roughly 74% growth. It also raised its full-year adjusted free-cash-flow outlook to $4.8 billion to $5 billion.

Cash generation contrasts with Apple’s scale

Palantir generated $1.22 billion in adjusted free cash flow during the third quarter, a 53% adjusted free-cash-flow margin. Apple generated $136 billion in full-year free cash flow, up 38%, according to the same comparison.

The feature said Palantir was trading near 100 times forward earnings and 37 times forward sales, compared with Apple at 35 times forward earnings and 9 times forward sales.

Apple results provide the comparison

Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.47 billion, up 12% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $2.05 per share excluding a favorable $0.05 tariff-refund impact. Its iPhone revenue increased 17% to $57.6 billion, while Services revenue rose 10% to an all-time high of $31.57 billion.

For fiscal 2026, Apple generated record revenue of $478.83 billion, up 15% year over year, and annual EPS of $8.82 excluding tariff refunds. Apple expects fiscal first-quarter revenue growth of 7% to 10%, though projected gross margin of 45% to 46% is below the 47.9% reported in the fourth quarter.

Zacks assigns both stocks a Hold ranking

Zacks assigned both Apple and Palantir a Rank #3, which corresponds to Hold. The feature framed the post-earnings pullback in both stocks as a comparison for investors considering buying the dip, while noting that Palantir’s faster growth came with substantially higher forward valuation multiples than Apple’s.