Meet Alteryx, A Big Data Analytics Competitor To Palantir

In one of 2020's most anticipated IPOs, Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR went public in September via a direct listing. Shares of Palantir opened for trading at $10 and now trade around $25.

Since the IPO, the company has become a perennial favorite of retail traders; Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation ETF ARKK; and investors looking for the next big name in software growth stocks. 

Palantir's Business: For readers unfamiliar, Palantir builds and deploys software platforms for the intelligence community in the United States to assist in counterterrorism investigations and operations. The company is known for Palantir Gotham, a software platform for government operatives in the defense and intelligence sectors.

Palantir Gotham enables users to identify patterns hidden deep within datasets, ranging from signals intelligence sources to reports from confidential informants, as well as facilitates the handoff between analysts and operational users, helping operators plan and execute real-world responses to threats that have been identified within the platform.

The company also offers Palantir Foundry, a platform that transforms the ways organizations operate by creating a central operating system for their data. Foundry also allows individual users to integrate and analyze the data they need in one place.

Palantir Competitor Alteryx: Alteryx Inc AYX is a software company that provides self-service data analytics software. Its software platform enables organizations to dramatically improve business outcomes and the productivity of business analysts.

The firm offers solutions such as advanced analytics, location intelligence, data preparation, technology integrations and others.

Like Palantir, Alteryx’s software serves a wide variety of companies in the private sector, including, but not limited to financial services; health care; retail; transportation and logistics; oil and gas; pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; and other industries.

Alteryx Financials: Much like Palantir, Alteryx generates its revenue from the sale of subscription-based software platforms.

In the fourth quarter, Alteryx earned $24.36 million. This represents a 152.87% sequential increase. 

Alteryx also posted a total of $160.53 million in sales, a 23.75% increase overthe third quarter. Alteryx earned $9.63 million, and sales totaled $129.72 million in the third quarter. 

Even amid this sales growth, shares of Alteryx have been obliterated over the last month. More on that later.

Alteryx trades at an average volume of 1.57 million shares per session over the past 100 days.

All this to say, if you’re looking for a quick-mover, Alteryx isn't it, outside of landing a major contract.  

AYX, PLTR Stock: Prospective Palantir and Alteryx investors should take note of some significant volatility in terms of recent price action.

Palantir and Alteryx are both well off their all-time and 52-week highs. Palantir saw its stock drop to $8.90 shortly after its IPO and spike to $45 off heavy volume in January.

At the time of publication, shares of Palantir were trading around $25. Catalysts for the recent hit in share price include a less-than-well-received fourth-quarter earnings report and the post-lockup period in February.

Alteryx has a 52-week range of $75.17 to $185.75, a 50-day moving average of $119.22, and currently trades around $87.

It’s worth noting shares of several technology companies are trading lower amid market weakness, so Palantir and Alteryx are not alone in the downtrend.

A rise in treasury yields has weighed on markets and impacted the outlook for high-growth sectors such as technology, and few of the sector's names have been spared.