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🚨 Palantir Just Grew 96% to $2.31 Billion — and Companies Now Outspend Uncle Sam

Palantir's Q3 revenue jumped 96% to $2.31bn, and US companies out-paid the US government for the first time. New deals grew just 6%.

By Tech Arcade··2 min read

Palantir Just Grew 96% to $2.31 Billion — and Companies Now Outspend Uncle Sam — Tech Arcade

Palantir just reported $2.31 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 96% from a year ago, beating the $2.18 billion Wall Street expected (Palantir, The Next Web).

The numbers landed at 4:05pm New York time on Monday. The headline inside the headline: for the first time, American companies paid Palantir more than the American government did.

That is a strange sentence for a business built on spy agencies and defence contracts.

⚡ What Happened

  • US commercial revenue hit $984 million, up 148%. US government revenue was $953 million, up 96% (Palantir).
  • Adjusted earnings were 44 cents a share, against 41 cents expected (The Next Web).
  • GAAP net income was $1.128 billion, a 49% margin. Quarterly revenue also passed $2 billion for the first time.
  • Full-year guidance rose to about $8.53 billion, roughly 91% growth, against the $8.2 billion analysts had pencilled in. Fourth-quarter revenue is guided to about $2.65 billion.

“Our U.S. commercial revenue has surpassed our U.S. government revenue for the first time in our company’s history.” — Alex Karp, CEO, in the earnings release

🧠 Why It Matters

If you want one read on whether companies are paying for AI software, as well as the chips under it, this is a useful one. Palantir beat its own forecast of $2.160 billion to $2.164 billion by about $150 million (TipRanks).

Now the part that kept the champagne corked. New business grew far slower than revenue. Total contract value was $2.92 billion, up just 6%. US commercial remaining deal value, the backlog, was $6.517 billion, up 79% on the year but only 4% on the quarter (Motley Fool).

Revenue up 29% on the quarter in that segment, backlog up 4%. You can run that gap for a while, though not indefinitely.

Investors had already turned cautious. Palantir shares fell 6.27% on Friday and closed Monday at $178.34, down 3.1%, before the results came out. After-hours trading was choppy, and at least one report had the stock up about 2%. Treat that move as unsettled.

🔜 What To Watch

  • Contract value next quarter. A rebound would make the 6% look like timing. Another weak print would not.
  • Karp’s Sovereign AI pitch. He calls governments buying their own AI capability the next big opportunity, and said the trend creates “the most dramatic dichotomy between haves and have nots” (24/7 Wall St.).
  • Tuesday’s open. That is the first real verdict on the numbers.

Analyst reaction and call details are still coming in.

Sources

❓ Quick answers

How much revenue did Palantir make in Q3 2026?

Palantir reported $2.313 billion on November 2, 2026, up 96% year over year, against about $2.18 billion expected by analysts (LSEG, via The Next Web).

Did Palantir's commercial revenue pass its government revenue?

In the US, yes. Palantir's Q3 2026 release shows US commercial revenue of $984 million against US government revenue of $953 million, a first for the company.

What is Palantir's 2026 revenue forecast?

Palantir raised its full-year 2026 guidance on November 2 to $8.530 billion to $8.534 billion, about 91% growth, and guided Q4 revenue to about $2.65 billion.