What Happened?
Shares of data-mining and analytics company Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) fell 5.9% in the afternoon session after stocks pulled back (Nasdaq -1.5%, S&P 500 -1.2%) amid fresh concerns about trade tariffs. The pullback followed comments from President Trump clarifying the scope of his administration's 25% tariffs on Venezuela. He noted that it would apply to any country that does business with Venezuela. For example, 25% is on top of the already-in-place 20% tariff on China because China imports oil from Venezuela, which could translate to a 45% tariff on some Chinese goods. This announcement could significantly raise the operating costs for affected companies and institutions.
Adding to the market unease, the President announced plans for new tariffs on auto imports before the planned "reciprocal" tariffs on April 2, 2025.
The shares closed the day at $92.25, down 4.4% from previous close.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Palantir? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What The Market Is Telling Us
Palantir’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 38 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock dropped 6.1% on the news that Jefferies analysts reiterated a Sell rating, raising concerns about the stock's valuation. The analysts added, "This positive momentum is baked into PLTR's valuation at 45x CY26E, the most expensive stock in our coverage. Fundamentals have been strong, but valuation remains the biggest concern, and insiders continue to sell, with co-founder Stephen Cohen selling another $310M in shares over the past few days."
Palantir is up 22.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $92.12 per share, it is still trading 26.1% below its 52-week high of $124.62 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Palantir’s shares at the IPO in September 2020 would now be looking at an investment worth $9,697.
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