New York, Feb 12, 2026, 07:37 EST — Premarket
- Palantir shares dipped a bit before the bell, coming off a 2.75% drop from the previous session.
- The company has extended its multi-year strategic partnership with Airbus, it said.
- Friday’s U.S. inflation numbers have traders on watch. Software stocks with hefty price tags remain quick to react to any shifts in AI sentiment.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O) edged down 0.13% to $135.50 early Thursday, following a 2.75% slide to $135.68 at Wednesday’s close.
That modest shift hides a tougher reality for bulls. Palantir’s turned into a weathervane for the “AI software” crowd, where sentiment can turn on a dime. A contract update, a guidance nudge—sometimes just a single broker’s take—and the stock can lurch, especially when trading’s thin.
The distinction has become critical as investors sift through AI buzz versus real, lasting demand. Palantir’s right in that crossroads — pitching software that embeds itself inside major enterprises and government agencies. Still, its lofty valuation doesn’t offer much forgiveness if things go sideways.
Palantir announced it’s extending its work with Airbus, locking in a multi-year deal that keeps the data analytics firm behind the Skywise open-data platform for civil aviation. According to Palantir, Skywise now serves over 50,000 users. The company highlighted its push to support “sovereign cloud” architectures—keeping sensitive data within borders—and pointed to the platform’s use of multiple large language models, the backbone of chat-style AI. Business Wire
Wall Street’s still hashing out how to value that growth. Daiwa Capital Markets bumped Palantir up to “Buy” from “Hold,” but dropped its price target to $180 from $200. The firm described the company’s latest quarter as leaving a “positive impression” and flagged what it called “extraordinary demand” for Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). TipRanks
It’s a tricky setup. According to JPMorgan strategists, the latest slide in software stocks has already baked in some of the bleakest potential fallout from AI disruption. Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty, meanwhile, sees the valuation gap as driven more by market mood than any change in company fundamentals, with investors rethinking positions in software names after the recent AI-driven rout.
Palantir’s most recent report shifted expectations and reignited debate over its valuation. U.S. government revenue jumped 66% in the fourth quarter, hitting $570 million and driving total sales to $1.41 billion. Even after shares slipped earlier this year, Reuters noted they were still changing hands at roughly 131 times forward earnings.
Still, there’s a snag: Airbus didn’t release any financial details, and just stacking up contract announcements rarely brings immediate profit. Hotter-than-forecast inflation, a spike in bond yields—those can quickly sap appetite for pricey growth names. Palantir, in particular, has taken its share of hits when the mood shifts.
Next up on traders’ radar: the U.S. January Consumer Price Index, dropping Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. It’s a number with the potential to jolt rate bets and shake up tech sentiment for the coming week.
