NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 09:46 ET — Regular session
- Palantir shares fall about 1% early Monday as tech stocks ease in thin holiday trading.
- The company drew fresh attention after a report detailed CEO Alex Karp’s “Meritocracy Fellowship” for high school graduates.
- Investors are watching this week’s Fed minutes and jobless claims for rate signals.
Palantir Technologies Inc shares were down 0.9% at $187.10 shortly after the opening bell on Monday, reversing a small early bounce as the broader tech sector softened.
The move matters because Palantir is one of the market’s biggest momentum names into year-end, leaving the stock sensitive to headlines and risk-off swings in light holiday liquidity.
U.S. stocks were set for a lower start to the final week of 2025 as heavyweight technology names gave up some ground from last week’s gains, Reuters reported.
Palantir also made headlines after a report said the company paid 22 high school graduates about $5,400 a month this fall to skip college as part of its “Meritocracy Fellowship.”
“If you did not go to school … once you come to Palantir, you’re a Palantirian. No one cares about the other stuff,” CEO Alex Karp said, according to an earnings call transcript cited by Investopedia.
The program offers four months of training — including philosophy and history seminars — and the possibility of full-time engineering roles, though the company has not said how many fellows will receive job offers, the report said.
The broader backdrop has turned choppy for AI-linked equities, with Nvidia and Oracle down more than 1% in premarket trading as the year-end rally paused, Reuters reported.
Palantir opened at $186.94 on Monday and traded between $184.61 and $187.17 in early dealings, with about 4.2 million shares changing hands, according to Investing.com data.
The stock ended Friday at $188.71 after a 2.8% drop, according to Investing.com historical pricing.
Even after Monday’s dip, Palantir’s share price had climbed about 150% in 2025, Investopedia reported, underscoring how quickly investors have priced in growth expectations.
Investing.com put Palantir’s market capitalization at about $450 billion and showed the stock at a triple-digit earnings multiple, metrics that can amplify volatility when sentiment turns.
Palantir sells data-analysis software to governments and companies, with platforms designed to help users find patterns in large datasets and support operational decision-making.
Investors are also looking ahead to macro catalysts, including minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting and weekly jobless claims later this week, in a market expected to see light volumes around the New Year holiday.
Palantir’s next earnings date is listed by Investing.com as Feb. 18, 2026; traders will be watching for updates on demand and any shift in growth assumptions that have driven the stock’s 2025 surge.
