Episode notes
Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O’Malley take a deep dive into Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), the data and AI platform behind everything from battlefield targeting systems to Airbus’s A350 production line, with customers including the U.S. Army, the NHS, Ferrari, and Airbus. Palantir is growing revenue at over 90%, with net dollar retention at 157% and adjusted operating margins above 60% — a Rule of 40 score of 155%, roughly double what the best software companies in the world achieve. It also trades at around 60 times sales, which is why The Economist called it possibly the most overvalued firm of all time.
Daniel and Shawn discuss whether the ontology layer is a sustainable moat now that Microsoft and Google have launched competing products, what Alex Karp and Peter Thiel’s politics mean for a company selling to Western governments, and why twenty years of losses turned into the fastest-accelerating software business on the market. In the end, Daniel values the business and decides whether PLTR deserves a spot in The Intrinsic Value Portfolio.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:29) How Palantir’s Ontology actually works
(00:16:26) How AI turned around Palantir’s business
(00:20:59) Why Palantir has the best margins in the industry
(00:34:22) Why no one seems to be able to copy Palantir’s Ontology
(00:38:01) How Palantir grows its customer base
(01:07:36) Palantir's valuation discussion
(01:11:37) How much Palantir stock is actually worth
(01:12:52) Whether PLTR will be added to The Intrinsic Value Portfolio
Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.
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