Why Palantir Stock Led the S&P 500 Higher Today

Key Takeaways

• Palantir Technologies shares surged on Tuesday after Ark Capital said software companies could have more room to benefit from the AI boom.

• A managing director from Ark indicated that data analytics and software firms like Palantir are poised to take AI market share from the mega-capitalization tech giants.

• Palantir shares are up more than 140% year-to-date after Tuesday’s gains.

Shares of data analytics software firm Palantir Technologies (PLTR) were Tuesday’s biggest gainers in the S&P 500 after after asset management firm Ark Invest spotlighted software as an area with more room to benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) trends.

In an interview with CNBC, Rahul Bhushan, managing director of Ark Invest Europe, said data analytics and software firms like Palantir could be poised to take market share from mega-capitalization tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOGL), whose cloud-computing platforms have been a focal point in the emerging AI boom.

More ‘Asymmetrical Opportunities’ in Software

According to Bhushan, hardware and infrastructure have accounted for 80% of the value that has accrued over the past two and a half years as investors pour money into shares of AI-related companies. Ark Invest is “finding far more asymmetrical opportunities today” in companies operating further down the “AI stack”—including those providing software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service products—Bhushan said.

Data analytics providers like Palantir can provide customized data and AI services that are tailored to the needs of specific clients, Bhushan said.

Palantir shares rose more than 6% on Tuesday, leaving them up some 140% in 2024.

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