By Arsheeya Bajwa and Chavi Mehta
(Portal) – Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies on Thursday forecast fourth-quarter revenue above market estimates, betting on strong demand for its new artificial intelligence platform from customers including U.S. government agencies.
Shares of the Colorado-based company rose nearly 13% in premarket trading.
According to LSEG data, Palantir expects revenue between $599 million and $603 million, with the midpoint above analysts’ estimates of $600.5 million.
In a positive sign for future demand for its new platform, the company said it was seeing strong interest in the “AI bootcamps” it launched in October to give customers one to five days of access.
“By the end of November, we are on track to host boot camps with 140 organizations, and half of them will take place this month,” said Ryan Taylor, Palantir’s chief revenue officer.
The number of users of Palantir’s AI platform nearly tripled in the July-September period, Taylor said in an interview.
The company’s third-quarter revenue rose 17% to $558 million, slightly above estimates.
But revenue from government customers, a key source of revenue, rose 12%, below Wall Street expectations and the 15% growth in the previous quarter.
Government budget constraints have created near-term uncertainty within the company, but Palantir remains positive on demand amid geopolitical tensions, the company said.
Commercial sales rose 23% to $251 million, with half of that coming from the US, where demand was stronger than in Europe.
Adjusted net income attributable to the company’s shareholders was $155 million, an increase of nearly 30% from the previous quarter.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shounak Dasgupta)