Palantir Says 2020 Growth To Exceed 42%, As It Prepares To Go Public Next Week

Palanatir Technologies Inc in an updated filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said it expects a 42% revenue growth this year.

The privately funded software company is set to make its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 30, according to the SEC filing. Palantir has opted for a direct listing to improve investor liquidity and wouldn't be raising additional capital.

What Happened: The Peter Thiel-led company disclosed that it expects revenue of approximately $280 million at a year-over-year growth rate of 46% to 47% in the third quarter this year. Whereas the full-year forecasted revenue is pegged close to $1.06 billion at an average growth rate of 42% YoY.

The company anticipates a quarterly non-GAAP operating income between $6 million to $8 million, excluding stock-based compensation, payroll tax expenses but includes one-time direct listing expenses. The annual non-GAAP operating income guidance for 2020 is estimated between $62 million to $72 million.

The company also anticipates a 4% full-time employee headcount growth YoY for 2020.

For the next year, Palantir estimates revenue growth to be greater than 30%.

Why Does It Matter: Based on the first half of the year, Palantir’s major source of revenue is generated from government contracts. However, the software company’s financial trends reflect that the operating expenses were consistently higher than the revenue.

Thiel — best known as a co-founder of PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL and early investor in Facebook Inc. FB — co-founded Palantir back in 2003.

After 17 years of operating, the company is yet to achieve any profitability. The data analytics company suffered a net loss of about $580 million in 2019 on total revenue of $742 million.

Photo courtesy: Dan Taylor via Wikimedia