Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar highlighted the critical role of artificial intelligence in national defense and outlined the company’s vision for rebuilding America’s industrial base during a CNBC “Closing Bell Overtime” appearance on Saturday.
What Happened: Sankar, who is reportedly under consideration for a top Pentagon research position in President-elect Donal Trump‘s administration, emphasized how only 6% of defense spending historically went to defense specialists, with most funds directed to dual-purpose companies until 1990.
“We need to rally together as a country to organize around this problem,” Sankar said, citing current global challenges including North Korea’s involvement in Ukraine and Iran’s nuclear developments. “AI is the determinative factor because you need a technological offset.”
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Why It Matters: The company has seen significant transformation in its government and commercial sectors. While discussing Palantir’s partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation BAH and recent collaboration with Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN Amazon Web Services for providing Anthropic‘s Claude AI models to U.S. intelligence agencies, Sankar noted the commercial market’s rapid AI adoption.
Palantir’s expanding influence comes as its market value reached $173 billion, surpassing traditional defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT.
Addressing speculation about a Pentagon position, Sankar expressed commitment to Palantir: “I’m very happy… I’ve been here 19 years as the 13th employee, and I think we have an opportunity to build a generational company.”
Wedbush Securities Managing Director Dan Ives has identified Palantir as a leader in enterprise AI transformation. The company’s stock has surged 93% since joining the S&P 500 in September, reflecting growing investor confidence in its government contracts and AI partnerships.
Price Action: Palantir stock closed at $76.34 on Friday, up 6.22% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock gained an additional 1.52%. Year-to-date, Palantir has surged 360.43%.
According to data from Benzinga Pro, Palantir has a consensus price target of $30.22 from 18 analysts, with a high of $75 and a low of $7.50. The three most recent ratings, issued by BofA Securities, Wedbush, and Goldman Sachs, average a price target of $63.67, suggesting a potential downside of 17.85% from current levels.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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