NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 09:35 ET — Regular session
Palantir Technologies Inc. shares were down 0.2% at $176.54 in early trade on Friday, giving back a small part of Thursday’s drop as investors sized up fresh U.S. labor data and a looming Supreme Court decision on tariffs.
The lack of a clean direction matters because Palantir has turned into a crowded wager on artificial intelligence spending, and those trades can swing on tiny changes in rates, policy and risk appetite.
It also lands at an awkward time for growth stocks. Investors want falling rates, but they also want enough economic momentum to keep big-ticket software projects alive. That mix has been unstable all week.
Global markets firmed after data showed U.S. payroll growth undershot expectations, a report that can tilt bets on Federal Reserve cuts. Reuters also reported the U.S. Supreme Court may rule later on Friday on the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Palantir has traded more like a high-beta tech name than a defense contractor lately, and Thursday’s tape didn’t help. Chipmaker Nvidia and other megacaps weighed on the Nasdaq, while aerospace and defense shares rose to record highs after Trump advocated a $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, Reuters reported.
For Palantir, the next hard checkpoint is whether it can deliver on targets it set in November. The company said it expected fourth-quarter revenue of $1.327 billion to $1.331 billion and adjusted income from operations of $695 million to $699 million, after third-quarter revenue rose 63% to $1.181 billion.
The stock ended Thursday at $176.82, down 2.68% from the prior session, according to a Yahoo Finance report. That leaves little cushion if the market’s mood turns again on policy headlines.
But the risks run both ways. If hiring and growth keep cooling, investors may lean harder into rate-cut hopes — and just as quickly start asking whether corporate software budgets are about to tighten.
Traders’ next market-moving marker is the Supreme Court tariff decision later on Friday. Beyond that, investors are watching for a confirmed date for Palantir’s next earnings report; Wall Street Horizon lists Feb. 2 after the close as “unconfirmed.”
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