Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) heads into the next U.S. market open on Monday, December 22, 2025 after a strong finish to last week and a steady stream of policy- and contract-linked headlines that continue to keep the stock in the spotlight.
As of the most recent trade, Palantir shares were around $193.38, up roughly 4.2% on the day, after trading between about $186.53 and $194.87, with ~76.9 million shares changing hands.
That price action matters because PLTR is trading like a high-momentum “AI + government” bellwether: when the narrative turns positive, the stock can move fast. When expectations wobble—even slightly—valuation becomes the headline.
Below is what investors should know before the bell, based on the latest reporting, official announcements, and recent analyst takes.
Palantir stock price check: where PLTR left off heading into Dec. 22
Palantir’s latest session ended with a notable move higher and heavy volume—often a sign of strong interest (and sometimes heightened volatility) heading into a new week.
A key structural point for longer-term investors: Palantir is no longer a “fringe tech” story. It was added to the S&P 500, which tends to increase institutional attention and makes the stock a more common component of index and benchmark-driven portfolios. [1]
The three biggest Palantir headlines influencing sentiment right now
1) U.S. Navy’s $448 million Ship OS push puts Palantir at the center of a major industrial modernization effort
One of the most consequential catalysts in December is the U.S. Navy’s public push to accelerate shipbuilding modernization with AI and autonomy.
On Dec. 9, 2025, the Navy announced a $448 million strategic investment in a Shipbuilding Operating System (Ship OS) that will leverage Palantir’s software in shipbuilding environments. The Navy said the initiative is managed by the Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) program in collaboration with NAVSEA and is intended to unify data from ERP systems, legacy databases, and operational sources to identify bottlenecks and improve production management. [2]
The Navy also pointed to early pilot results, including:
- schedule planning reduced from 160 manual hours to under 10 minutes at General Dynamics Electric Boat, and
- material review times cut from weeks to under one hour at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. [3]
Investor takeaway: this is the kind of “sticky” operational platform work that can be difficult to displace once deployed—but it also tends to be implementation-heavy, and timelines matter.
Investor’s Business Daily framed the ShipOS award as potentially significant relative to Palantir’s other defense wins, highlighting the scope and the runway for broader naval expansion beyond initial areas. [4]
2) “Chain Reaction” with Nvidia and CenterPoint targets the next AI bottleneck: power and infrastructure
Palantir’s other major December narrative is that it’s pushing beyond “AI software” into the practical logistics of building AI infrastructure at scale.
Reuters reported that Palantir, Nvidia, and CenterPoint Energy are developing a platform called Chain Reaction intended to accelerate AI data center construction by addressing permitting, supply chain, and construction complexity—areas where delays can compound across multiple stakeholders. [5]
A Business Wire release carried by Nasdaq described Chain Reaction as an “operating system for American AI infrastructure,” aimed at accelerating buildouts across energy producers, power distributors, data centers, and infrastructure builders. It explicitly positions the bottleneck as power and compute, and says the system is designed to stabilize/expand the grid and accelerate new generation/transmission/compute capacity. [6]
For investors, the key question is monetization:
- Does Chain Reaction become a repeatable platform with meaningful recurring revenue?
- Or does it behave more like a series of large, bespoke deployments that impress strategically but scale slowly?
3) Washington tailwinds: Tech Force and DOE’s Genesis Mission keep Palantir close to the federal AI agenda
Palantir’s brand and revenue base are deeply tied to U.S. government use cases. Two recent policy-adjacent developments are adding fuel to the “federal AI spending” narrative:
The “U.S. Tech Force” initiative
- The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the launch of a U.S. Tech Force, listing Palantir among initial private-sector partners. [7]
- Barron’s noted investor optimism around policy support for federal AI modernization alongside a bullish analyst note, while also pointing out that Palantir’s valuation keeps many analysts cautious. [8]
DOE’s Genesis Mission
- Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of Energy announced agreements with 24 organizations as part of the Genesis Mission, including Palantir, to push AI-powered research tied to energy and security capabilities. [9]
These aren’t necessarily “next-quarter revenue” stories by themselves, but they reinforce why PLTR often trades as a proxy for the thesis that U.S. institutions will deepen AI adoption—and pay for systems that can work in messy, high-stakes environments.
Earnings recap: why Palantir’s Q3 2025 numbers still matter before the next open
Even with fresh headlines, Palantir’s most important anchor is still its latest reported fundamentals—and the expectations those results created.
From Palantir’s Q3 2025 investor materials, the company highlighted:
- Revenue up 63% year-over-year to ~$1.18B
- U.S. commercial revenue up 121% YoY to ~$397M
- U.S. government revenue up 52% YoY to ~$486M
- Adjusted free cash flow of ~$540M (46% margin) and TTM adjusted free cash flow of ~$2.0B (51% margin)
- U.S. commercial remaining deal value (RDV) up 199% YoY to ~$3.6B
- Deal counts showing large-contract momentum (including 204 deals ≥$1M, 91 deals ≥$5M, 53 deals ≥$10M) [10]
That mix—fast growth plus very large cash flow—helps explain why investors have been willing to tolerate a premium multiple.
Reuters added that Palantir guided Q4 revenue to $1.327B–$1.331B (implying roughly 61% growth), raised its full-year revenue outlook to $4.396B–$4.40B, and cited strong AI demand. [11]
But Reuters also captured the tension that continues to define the stock: even with strong growth, the valuation is the risk factor. Reuters cited LSEG data putting Palantir at ~246x forward earnings at that time. [12]
Forecasts and analyst views: why price targets are wide and ratings remain divided
If you’re looking for a simple consensus on PLTR, you probably won’t find it. Palantir’s coverage is unusually polarized for a mega-cap-style momentum name.
The bull case (high targets, “platform” narrative)
- Barron’s reported that BofA analyst Mariana Perez Mora reaffirmed a Buy rating and set a $255 price target, described as the highest among analysts tracked by FactSet at the time. [13]
The “split street” reality (consensus targets below the tape)
- MarketBeat data showed a consensus/average price target around $172.28, with a wide range of targets (including a high at $255). [14]
- Barron’s also noted that only a minority of analysts rate the stock a Buy, largely due to valuation concerns. [15]
Why this matters before the open
When a stock trades at extreme multiples, the market is effectively paying in advance for future wins. That amplifies sensitivity to:
- any hint of growth deceleration,
- any contract delays or slower enterprise conversions,
- and macro shifts (rates, risk appetite) that compress multiples.
Positioning signals investors are watching: short interest and insider selling
Short interest: not huge, but still tracked
MarketBeat reported short interest of about 47.42 million shares, roughly 2.29% of shares outstanding, with days-to-cover around 1.0 (as of late November). [16]
That’s not “meme-stock” short pressure—but it’s enough that a sharp move can still squeeze positioning at the margin.
Insider transactions: look for plan-based selling vs. signal selling
A recent SEC Form 4 filing (Dec. 12, 2025) described an options exercise and sale tied to a preexisting Rule 10b5‑1 trading plan entered into earlier in 2025. [17]
Investor takeaway: automatic plan selling is common and not necessarily bearish, but with a valuation-driven stock like PLTR, traders often react to headlines about insider sales even when they’re scheduled.
What to watch before the market opens Monday, Dec. 22
Here’s a practical checklist for the next session—especially useful if you’re monitoring premarket headlines and early volume:
- Follow-through (or fade) after last week’s surge: PLTR is coming in hot; watch whether volume confirms continued accumulation or shows profit-taking.
- Ship OS implementation breadcrumbs: any additional Navy/NAVSEA details, rollout milestones, or supplier/shipyard participation updates could move sentiment because ShipOS is being framed as a major modernization push. [18]
- Chain Reaction details that point to revenue: initial customers, commercial structure, and proof that it scales beyond a few flagship partners will matter more than broad “AI infrastructure” messaging. [19]
- Federal AI posture: Tech Force optics and other agency activity can support the “Palantir is aligned with government AI buildout” story—even when near-term revenue impact is unclear. [20]
- Earnings-date expectations: Nasdaq lists an estimated next earnings date of Feb. 2, 2026 (algorithmic estimate, not a company-confirmed announcement). Treat anything around the date as tentative until Palantir formally confirms it. [21]
Bottom line for Dec. 22: Palantir has momentum—and a valuation that demands execution
Going into Monday’s open, Palantir’s narrative is unusually powerful: a mix of accelerating commercial AI adoption, deep government ties, big-ticket modernization programs like ShipOS, and infrastructure-scale initiatives like Chain Reaction. [22]
At the same time, even supportive coverage acknowledges that PLTR trades at a valuation that leaves little room for disappointment—one reason analyst ratings and targets are so spread out. [23]
References
1. press.spglobal.com, 2. www.navy.mil, 3. www.navy.mil, 4. www.investors.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.nasdaq.com, 7. www.opm.gov, 8. www.barrons.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. investors.palantir.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.barrons.com, 14. www.marketbeat.com, 15. www.barrons.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. www.sec.gov, 18. www.navy.mil, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.opm.gov, 21. www.nasdaq.com, 22. www.navy.mil, 23. www.reuters.com
