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Key Takeaways
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Palantir shares plunged from their all-time highs Wednesday following a report the Trump administration has directed the Pentagon to make sizable cuts to the U.S. defense budget.
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The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Pentagon officials to cut the U.S. defense budget by 8% annually for the next five years.
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The move could negatively impact military contractors like Palantir, though analysts previously suggested Palantir could also benefit from the Trump administration’s focus on efficiency and AI.
Palantir (PLTR) shares plunged from their all-time highs Wednesday following a report the Trump administration directed the Pentagon to trim the U.S. defense budget.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Pentagon officials to cut the U.S. defense budget by 8% annually for the next five years.
The move could negatively impact military contractors like Palantir, which derived more than 40% of its fourth-quarter revenue from the U.S. government and recently extended a contract with the U.S. Army.
Palantir’s stock price dropped 10% to close at $112.06 Wednesday after closing at an all-time high Tuesday and setting an intraday record at $125.41 earlier in the session. Shares of some other firms that service the U.S. military, including Northrop Grumman (NOC), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), and L3 Harris (LHX), also lost ground Wednesday.
However, several analysts suggested earlier this month that Palantir could be better positioned than most to benefit from the Trump administration’s focus on artificial intelligence and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s goals to cut spending.
Separately, Palantir disclosed late Tuesday that CEO Alex Karp adopted a new trading plan to sell up to 9.98 million shares through Sept. 12.
Even with Wednesday’s losses, Palantir shares have nearly quintupled in value over the past 12 months as demand for its Artificial Intelligence Platform soared.
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