Palantir (PLTR.US) pre-performance Citi reiterated its bullish view: The fundamentals remain strong and growth momentum will continue.

American data analytics and defense software company Palantir (PLTR.US) will announce its first quarter performance for 2026 on May 4th Eastern Time. Citigroup reiterated its positive view on Palantir in a recent client report, raising its performance expectations for the company while simultaneously lowering its target price for the stock. Citigroup analyst Tyler Radke stated, "We expect Palantir's growth momentum to continue in the first quarter, both in its government and commercial businesses, with further progress in international markets as well. The company has already completed large-scale renewals with Airbus and Stellantis." The analyst pointed out, "Government contract news in the first quarter shows strong performance for Palantir in the U.S. market, including large contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a $1 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the expansion of Project Maven. Following communications with management in the quarter, we further confirmed that both commercial and government businesses remain strong, and we believe this will drive the company to achieve accelerated growth once again, bringing about a 4 to 5 percentage point increase in the first quarter and full year of the 2026 fiscal year." The analyst added, "We have further raised our estimates, with projections for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years exceeding the market's expectations by over 500 basis points. However, recent compression of software sector valuation multiples has led us to lower the target price for the stock from $260 to $210 (corresponding to approximately 48 times the 2027 fiscal year enterprise value/sales and approximately 87 times the enterprise value/free cash flow)." He reiterated a "buy/high risk" rating for Palantir and stated, "We believe that as AI continues to proliferate in enterprises, Palantir will remain one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI wave, as evidenced at a recent AI summit." It is worth noting that concerns about AI disruption have led to a sell-off in the software sector, resulting in a poor performance for Palantir's stock this year, with a cumulative decline of over 20%. However, earlier this month, investment bank Wedbush continued to support Palantir, maintaining an "outperform" rating for the stock and giving a target price of $230. The bank believes that the market narrative that "Anthropic is eating into Palantir's business" is unfounded and exaggerated. The bank pointed out that Palantir's competitive advantage lies in its "moat" built around data, especially its AIP platform's deep integration capabilities in enterprise applications, which have not been replaced by Anthropic's modeling capabilities, but have instead been enhanced in the process of AI application implementation. Morgan Stanley also pointed out in its pre-earnings analysis of Palantir that the company has the potential for slightly accelerated growth and an upward revision of its annual guidance. The bank noted that despite a significant lag in stock performance, the demand environment remains healthy. Morgan Stanley has a "neutral" rating for Palantir with a target price of $205. The analyst stated that Palantir entered the first quarter with a favorable outlook due to strong fundamental momentum, positive channel research feedback, and potential upward revisions in performance expectations. The analyst pointed out, "The fundamentals remain exceptionally strong, led by accelerated growth in the U.S. market, expanding adoption rates by large clients, and industry-leading profit margins, making the path to achieving the $10 billion revenue target increasingly credible."