NEW YORK, March 4, 2026, 07:57 EST
- Palantir shares picked up roughly 1.4% in premarket action
- Rosenblatt upped its price target to $200, previously $150, while sticking with its buy rating
- U.S. defense AI policy changes are drawing investor attention after fresh restrictions landed on rival technologies.
Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc climbed roughly 1.4% ahead of the open on Wednesday, after Rosenblatt Securities bumped its price target on the data analytics company to $200, up from $150. The firm maintained its buy rating.
The call came while the Pentagon was reassessing its approach to purchasing and deploying commercial AI, following a senior official’s warning that certain contract terms might lock down tools during combat planning. Large language models—AI trained on vast text datasets—can respond to prompts by generating answers and plans.
The vendor roster is under pressure now, too. Defense contractors are moving to drop Anthropic’s Claude, following President Donald Trump’s directive for a government-wide phase-out. The Pentagon has also labeled the company a supply-chain risk. Still, some attorneys argue the wider ban on contractors could face legal hurdles.
Reuters reported Monday that the U.S. State Department, Treasury, and Health and Human Services instructed employees to discontinue using Anthropic’s products, directing them to use alternatives including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini instead.
Palantir’s bread and butter has been government and defense contracts for years. Back in July, the U.S. Army announced plans to consolidate a slew of software deals into one enterprise contract with Palantir, potentially valued at $10 billion across a decade. Still, the Army emphasized there are no guaranteed new buys in the agreement.
Insider selling cropped up again this week. According to a Form 144 filing the SEC logged late Monday, STS Holdings II LLC—controlled by Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel—put forward plans to unload as many as 2 million Class A shares, with the total market value pegged at roughly $280 million.
Executives at the company aren’t mincing words. “If you have ever considered returning to Palantir, this is the week to do it,” Ted Mabrey, Palantir’s global head of commercial, wrote in a post, adding a Tolkien reference for alumni: “The Shire is calling.” Business Insider
Guardian Premier Solutions, a defense contractor based in San Antonio, has taken Palantir to Texas state court, accusing the company of fraud and breach of contract over a partnership program that, according to the local report, cost roughly $709,000 and failed to deliver the business referrals it promised. The report also noted that Palantir hadn’t filed a response to the suit.
Traders are eyeing whether Washington’s stricter contract guardrails mean more projects for integrators such as Palantir. Another read: the spending might just favor model providers and cloud players already wired into government channels.
Still, risks stand out. Should the Anthropic ban get rolled back or limited, the procurement shift might lose steam, and Palantir’s lofty valuation doesn’t tolerate much misstep. Defense-focused gainers often see a quick pullback from investors once the story quiets down.
