$1,000 in Palantir 5 Years Ago? Here’s the Brutal (or Beautiful) Truth Today
Palantir’s stock ride has been a masterclass in volatility—either a moonshot or a cautionary tale, depending when you bought in.
The Big Data Bet That Divided Wall Street
Love it or hate it, Peter Thiel’s controversial data-mining firm never plays it safe. Its stock swings make crypto look stable—but for those who timed it right, the payoff was explosive.
The Numbers Don’t Lie (Even If Palantir’s Clients Might)
Five years back, $1,000 parked in PLTR would now be... [original data figure]. Not quite Bitcoin’s 2017→2021 run, but enough to silence skeptics—or fuel their 'I told you so's if you bought at peak hype.
A Hedge Fund Darling… Until It Wasn’t
Institutional investors flip-flopped on Palantir faster than a crypto trader chasing APYs. One quarter it’s 'the future of AI-driven defense contracts,' the next it’s 'overvalued spyware.' Meanwhile, retail bagholders just pray for another government contract leak.
The Bottom Line
Palantir proves even the shadiest big-data plays can print money—if you ignore the ethics debates, short-seller reports, and that time Congress almost banned its tech. But hey, since when did morals matter in markets?
Leading the AI industry's growth
If you've not kept close tabs on the AI industry's explosive growth, but the name still rings a bell, it might be because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asked Palantir for help managing the monumental task of combating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the distribution of coronavirus vaccines.
Image source: Getty Images.
That's not all the company's tech is capable of, to be clear. Factories, financial firms, logistics outfits, and the military all benefit from its solutions. It was the COVID-19 pandemic, however, that put Palantir on the proverbial map and jump-started its explosive growth.
To this end, had you made a mere $1,000 investment in Palantir Technologies stock right after its September 2020 initial public offering, today that position WOULD be worth just a little over $19,000.
Tough act to follow, but...
That's an unusually big run-up -- even for a game changer like Palantir. But it's a well-deserved advance. Annualized revenue has grown from a little over $1 billion then to roughly $4 billion now.
Just don't look for a repeat of this feat over the course of the coming five years.
Still, that doesn't mean Palantir shares aren't worth owning here. The AI business is still young, and plenty of organizations don't even yet realize they need this company's tech. In this vein, an outlook from Straits Research suggests the decision-making software market is set to grow at an annualized pace of 16% through 2031. Palantir Technologies is well-positioned to win at least its fair share of this growth.
