New York, March 3, 2026, 16:20 (EST) — Action picks up after-hours.
- Palantir shares trimmed nearly a 5% slide to finish up 1.4% after hours.
- Chairman Peter Thiel is looking to unload as many as 2 million shares, a Form 144 filing revealed, with the sale set to run through a 10b5-1 plan.
- Investors pulled back on risk as Middle East tensions flared and oil-related inflation worries grew; attention is also shifting to Palantir’s upcoming earnings date.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) climbed 1.4% to $147.27 after hours Tuesday, following a day where the price swung from $138.26 all the way up to $147.47. Around 66.7 million shares traded hands. The stock sits at about 395 times trailing earnings, based on its price-to-earnings ratio—a standard metric lining up share price with company profits.
U.S. equities didn’t find much footing, closing in the red after a choppy session. Rising energy prices—driven by the worsening Middle East conflict—put inflation back in focus. The S&P 500 lost 0.94%. Nasdaq shed 1.00%. Traders, looking at the data, adjusted their bets on when the Fed could finally move to cut rates.
Panic is calling the shots these days, even for stocks that typically march to their own beat. “If there is a condition that makes us want to become more defensive, it’s uncertainty,” Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Investment Management, told Reuters. Reuters
Palantir chairman and co-founder Peter Thiel is looking to unload up to 2 million Class A shares, according to a Form 144 filing. The total market value clocks in at about $280 million, a small slice—roughly 0.09%—of the company’s shares outstanding. Thiel will use Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith for the sale, which the notice pegs for around March 2. The filing also references a Rule 10b5-1 plan that was put in place on Nov. 14, 2025.
Form 144 signals an intended sale under SEC Rule 144—not confirmation that shares have actually changed hands. A 10b5-1 plan, on the other hand, lets insiders map out stock sales ahead of time, aiming to lower the risk of acting on material nonpublic info.
Palantir has relied on steady government demand to push its data analytics and AI software business forward. Following its last results in early February, eToro analyst Zavier Wong told Reuters, “Valuation question marks won’t disappear,” despite CEO Alex Karp’s insistence that the company’s systems are designed so “state and its agents can see only what ought to be seen.” Reuters
Guardian Premier Solutions, a defense contractor based in San Antonio, has taken Palantir to Texas state court, accusing the company of fraud, breach of contract, and more over issues related to a partnership program and training, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Palantir hasn’t filed a response to the suit, the paper noted.
Still, the risks are hard to ignore. News of insider selling has a way of rattling momentum trades, and Palantir’s lofty price tag doesn’t leave much margin for error—be it lagging contract wins, a legal tangle, or simply a market mood swing away from risk.
Palantir’s first-quarter earnings hit the calendar for May 4—the obvious marker ahead. Traders will be scanning for any follow-on filings, too, to see if that planned sale actually materializes into real volume.
