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- Palantir stock surged as much as 25% Friday after announcing its first inaugural demo day.
- The company also added former Accenture senior advisor Lauren Friedman Stat to its board.
- Palantir trades at a significant valuation of 48x sales and boasts a market cap of over $56 billion.
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Palantir stock surged as much as 25% on Friday to all-time highs of over $32 per share.
The jump continues the big data company’s breakneck post-IPO run that has seen shares skyrocket some 251%.
Though there was no clear catalyst for the move, there were some possible drivers on Friday.
First, Palantir announced Lauren Friedman Stat has been appointed to the Board of Directors as well as the Audit Committee of the Board.
Stat's 15 years of experience at Accenture, where she served as a senior advisor to Fortune 100 companies, among other roles, will bring significant experience and industry connections to the board.
Secondly, the company announced it will be holding an inaugural Demo Day on January 26.
At the event, Palantir plans on showing off the latest developments in its software platforms, Foundry and Gotham, to the public for the first time.
The company will also demo its continuous delivery and infrastructure platform-Apollo-which has been an increasingly valuable piece of software for the company to ensure Foundry and Gotham can be used by customers in any environment.
Additionally, Palantir plans to announce and demonstrate new software and platform features, including software-defined data integration, low-code or no-Code environments, archetypes, and an AI-enabled mission command that will support US armed forces and allied nations in the planning and execution of missions.
The big day for Palantir comes just three days after the Denver, Colorado-based big data company announced a deal with California's electric utility PG&E to help improve grid safety in the state.
Palantir's event announcement and recent deals speak to heady growth in product offerings at the company.
Now investors are hoping that will translate into revenues. Analysts are forecasting sales growth of around 32% next year to $1.41 billion from $1.07 billion in 2020.
Still, other analysts are wary of the name as the company's valuation has risen dramatically, trading at around 48x sales.
The sizeable valuation of Palantir has led short-sellers to come running. Citron Research initiated a short position back in late November, calling the company "a full casino" in a tweet.
The stock traded at $32.55 on Friday at 3:54 pm EST, giving the company a $56.7 billion market cap. Palantir boasts two "buy" ratings, three "neutral" ratings, and three "sell" ratings from analysts.