Why Palantir Technologies Was Blasting Higher This Week

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) stock seemed to be on track to land in positive territory this week. Following the very positive investor and analyst reaction to its latest set of quarterly results, the next-generation data analytics company saw its share price balloon by 18% week to date as of early Friday morning, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

A fine start to the trading week

After delivering a double beat on its second quarter, in results published after market hours Monday, Palantir stock seemed destined to cruise over the next few days. It managed to post a robust 27% year-over-year increase in revenue to more than $678 million, and a much higher (85%) increase in non-GAAP (adjusted) net income; this hit $221 million, or $0.09 per share. In addition to these encouraging growth numbers, management also raised its full-year revenue forecast.

Both headline figures landed above the consensus analyst estimates. Collectively, those pundits were expecting slightly over $653 million on the top line, filtering down to a $0.08 per share adjusted net income figure.

These days, Palantir is a popular investor play on artificial intelligence (AI). One element of the company's results that helped to blast its stock higher was sharply growing customer interest in its Artificial Intelligence Platform. Bolstered by the offering, U.S. commercial revenue rose by a hot 55% year over year.

Time for the bulls to run

That's the kind of performance that attracts the positive kind of analyst attention. In the wake of the earnings release, several high-profile researchers raised their price targets on Palantir stock.

Among the raisers was Goldman Sachs' Gabriela Borges, who now feels the shares are worth $16 apiece; formerly she valued them at $14. Although she maintained her neutral recommendation on the stock, her latest evaluation on the company sounded quite bullish at times. In her latest Palantir research note she opined that the company is "uniquely positioned to benefit from medium-term enterprise AI engagements given its ability to structure data, upgrade IT infrastructure and custom-built AI applications."

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.