Palantir shareholders want to know when they'll get their money back

Palantir has a large retail-investor following, and its management solicits shareholder questions before quarterly earnings calls, with CEO Alex Karp answering some of the most popular. Ahead of the results discussed here, questions about dividends, stock splits and share buybacks made up 46 per cent of submissions when weighted by popularity - 30 percentage points more than the previous quarter and the highest share since RBC Capital Markets began tracking them. Investors showed less interest in Palantir’s competitive strengths, long-term prospects, government work and political ties, suggesting a stronger focus on near-term returns and possible frustration with a stock that has risen sharply.

RBC analysts see the shift as a possible sign that Palantir is becoming less of a meme stock, but the evidence is uncertain: questions about cash returns could be filler, and the shares were near a record high amid a market decline and few company-specific developments. Comparisons across quarters are also imperfect because RBC’s question categories have not remained consistent. The analysts have long been bearish, first advising investors to sell in November 2021 and maintaining an underperform rating since May 2022. Their valuation concerns remain stark: Palantir trades at roughly 121 times forecast 2026 earnings and 61 times forecast 2026 revenue, multiples expected to decline to 75 and 40 times, respectively, in 2027.