NEW YORK, Feb 13, 2026, 10:30 ET — Regular session
- Palantir shares edged up roughly 1% early in New York, clawing back slightly after plunging the previous day.
- Michael Burry is back with a fresh bearish take on Palantir, reigniting the debate over how AI-linked stocks like these should really be valued.
- Palantir got the green light from a U.S. defense agency to expand its federal cloud service deployments.
Palantir Technologies stock edged up 1.2% to $130.71 Friday morning, recovering a bit after a sharp drop in the previous session when Michael Burry unveiled his latest bearish thesis.
The stock sits squarely in the crosshairs of the market’s “AI” frenzy—revenue growth racing ahead, but that lofty valuation has plenty of skeptics. Burry’s note landed just as traders seemed ready to take down anything they saw as too expensive.
Palantir is doubling down on government contracts and regulated sectors—areas known for both durable deals and relentless oversight. Those factors can help stabilize performance, yet they don’t shield the stock from swings in investor mood.
Burry—the investor made famous by “The Big Short” for his bearish U.S. housing wager—has pegged a valuation range for Palantir, suggesting shares could drop to $46. He clarified he isn’t directly short the stock, but he does hold put options, which generally increase in value when shares decline. Palantir, for its part, wouldn’t comment, according to Business Insider. 1
The stock had already slipped well below its recent highs, bringing those Wall Street price targets into the spotlight before Burry made his move. According to Investopedia, analysts are still divided. The shares have dropped hard since peaking in November. 2
Palantir announced that the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has cleared its Palantir Federal Cloud Service (PFCS) Forward, broadening the company’s existing Impact Level 5 and Impact Level 6 provisional authorizations to now include on‑premises and edge environments. (Impact Levels are U.S. defense cloud security tiers; an “ATO,” short for Authorization to Operate, means official sign-off to run these systems.) “The future of warfighting demands software that can operate anywhere,” said Akash Jain, Palantir USG’s president and CTO. 3
DA Davidson stuck to its neutral stance on the business after reviewing Burry’s critique, saying it found “no new evidence” to shift its outlook. The firm flagged the stock’s current price and potential for further volatility as reasons to hold steady. 4
Palantir’s latest quarter came in ahead of forecasts, thanks mostly to a surge in government contracts. U.S. government revenue soared 66% to $570 million for the fourth quarter, pushing total revenue up to $1.41 billion—better than analysts expected, according to Reuters. 5
Still, the downside risk sticks around. Should AI spending momentum weaken, or contract growth lose steam while the valuation remains lofty, shares could easily re-rate lower—a bounce like Friday’s might not stick around for long.
Heads up for traders—a long weekend is coming. U.S. stock markets will take a break Monday, Feb. 16 for Presidents Day, reopening Tuesday. 6
