Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest began the new year with a focus on innovation themes like autonomy, gene editing, and advanced air mobility. Wood added names like Archer Aviation (ACHR) and Joby Aviation (JOBY), as well as Deere and Company (DE) as a growing autonomy play. Ark Invest also added some healthcare names to its holdings. However, one name that stood out in particular was Palantir; Wood let go of approximately 58,000 shares of the software company.
The PLTR stock sale has a lot to do with profit taking and rebalancing, and amounts to less than 15% of Wood’s total stake in the company. So, it doesn’t necessarily suggest there’s anything wrong with the company, which is going strong. For example, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives selected Palantir stock as one of his top picks for 2026. Ives believes Palantir is on its way to becoming a trillion-dollar company.
Citigroup analyst Tyler Radke also upgraded PLTR stock to a “Buy” on Jan. 12, raising his price target from $210 to $235. With earnings less than a month away, it won’t be surprising if the stock jumps up to those levels soon. Palantir has a tendency to be volatile before and after earnings, and going by the way the firm is progressing in both public and private sector, upward stock movement is the more likely scenario.
Palantir Technologies builds and develops software platforms that add value to businesses and processes in various organizations. Initially criticized for relying on government contracts for revenue, the firm has done work to diversify into the commercial segment, which now accounts for almost half of its total revenue.
PLTR stock has gained about 159% in the past one year. This is nothing compared to the 340% gain that the company registered in 2024, where it was also the best performer in the S&P 500 ($SPX). Nonetheless, it’s a great return compared to any benchmark.
A case can be made in favor of Cathe Wood for utilizing a high valuation for profit-taking. PLTR stock is currently trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 225 times, well above its already abnormally high five-year average. It is similarly trading far above its historic EV/EBITDA and historic forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiples. A lot of good things are already priced in, and Cathie Wood is simply taking advantage of that fact.
