New York, Jan 20, 2026, 10:10 (EST) — Regular session
- Palantir shares dropped roughly 2% in early U.S. trading, following a wider tech sell-off.
- Reuters reported that Palantir secured a multi-year software contract with South Korea’s HD Hyundai, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Investors are eyeing Palantir’s Feb. 2 earnings report for insight into the pace at which commercial demand is translating into revenue.
Shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O) slipped roughly 2% to $167.58 Tuesday morning. The data analytics firm had just broadened its partnership with South Korea’s HD Hyundai in a deal Reuters reported could total hundreds of millions of dollars over multiple years. (Reuters)
Timing is crucial. Palantir has been pushing its software well beyond its U.S. government base, targeting major industrial clients—the kind Wall Street watches closely to gauge if commercial growth can stick.
The timing coincides with executives gathering in Davos for the World Economic Forum, a hotspot where deals often take shape from casual handshakes. Investors usually dismiss this as background noise—until it starts reflecting in actual bookings.
The companies announced that their partnership, which kicked off in 2021 at HD Hyundai Oilbank, is now scaling across the group. This includes shipbuilding, construction equipment, and emerging fields like robotics and electric systems. HD Hyundai chairman Chung Kisun described it as “an important turning point” for linking data and workflows to accelerate decision-making. (Business Wire)
The market showed little mercy. The S&P 500 proxy SPY and Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ each dropped over 1% in early trading. Software stocks followed suit—Snowflake dropped around 1.7%, Datadog slipped roughly 0.9%, and C3.ai plunged more than 4%.
Palantir is zeroing in on industrial sectors with Foundry, its data platform, and AIP, its so-called “Artificial Intelligence Platform.” Simply put, artificial intelligence is software that digs through vast data sets to identify patterns, speeding up decision-making and problem detection.
Neither company disclosed a dollar amount for the expanded contract. Palantir declined to comment on the specifics, while CEO Alex Karp told Reuters he remains “very bullish” on Korea but emphasized the firm’s primary focus is still the U.S. market.
Investors are still stuck on the same question they’ve been chasing all year: What will appear in the revenue, and when exactly? Big enterprise rollouts don’t happen overnight, and industrial projects usually kick off with pilots before scaling up.
Palantir is gearing up for its next major milestone. The company announced earlier this month that it will release fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings on Feb. 2, right after the U.S. markets close. A webcast will follow at 5:00 p.m. ET. (Business Wire)
Risks cut both ways. Should HD Hyundai’s projects ramp up more slowly than anticipated, or if implementation costs eat into margins, the stock could slide sharply — particularly on days when investors are already trimming their high-growth tech bets.
Traders are waiting to see if Palantir reveals details on the scale and timing of its HD Hyundai-related revenue. They’re also looking for any mention of new commercial wins when the company reports on Feb. 2.
