Palantir CEO’s defensiveness raises some red flags
Technology
MYST highlights a worrying behavioural shift after analysing CEO Alex Karp’s recent media appearances. Following the stock’s sharp pullback, he has adopted what behavioural economists call “defensive attribution” - a psychological bias where people facing harsh criticism attribute negative outcomes to external factors rather than accepting personal responsibility. Karp’s responses increasingly dismiss critics, question motives and escalate into personal attacks. While MYST are not insinuating PLTR is a fraud or a bad business, his rhetoric mirrors CEOs from some of the biggest corporate scandals.
Edition: 225
- 28 November, 2025
Technology
Trivariate flags PLTR as one of the most compelling short ideas ahead of the June 2025 index rebalance. Having surged nearly 5x since mid-2024, PLTR now trades at a $291bn m/cap and an eye-watering 73x EV-to-forward sales - making it the second most expensive US non-biotech stock with over $50m in revenue. Historically, stocks trading above 30x EV/sales fall to 18x within a year and underperform the market by an average of 22.5%. With PLTR comprising over 8% of the mid-cap growth index, a shift into the large-cap universe will likely trigger major selling pressure. Unless you believe PLTR can grow faster and longer than any company has ever grown, selling now and shorting near June 30th is the logical strategy.
Edition: 212
- 30 May, 2025
Artificial intelligence: Countdown to winter
The current exuberance around AI is simply not going to last, exclaims Richard Windsor. We’re in the 4th AI hype cycle, with the others occurring in the 1960s, 1980s and 2017-19, with each cycle represented by unrealistic expectations, FOMO, and the eventual collapsing valuations. Money is being thrown at start-ups with valuation and fundamentals being an afterthought. LLM models are popping up all over the place, which will put current services such as Chat-GPT under relentless pressure when it comes to their pricing models. Richard only has one AI investment in Palantir, and won’t touch anything else.
Edition: 164
- 07 July, 2023
Technology
Aaron Gabin questions the logic behind PLTR shares climbing 11% on 2Q21 earnings - what is going on here?! Is no one paying attention?! 59% (!!) of the total contract value signed in the quarter came from companies that PLTR has recently invested in (the firm has bizarrely decided to invest $250m in 10 SPACs in the last 3 months). Growth is forecast to decelerate from 49% to 33% Q/Q... and yet it trades at 28x forward sales. Meanwhile, CEO Alex Karp has already cashed out $391m since the stock listed 9 months ago; $253m of which occurred in 2Q. Biggest short in software.
Edition: 117
- 20 August, 2021
Palantir (PLTR)
Technology
Besides Cathie Wood is anyone else buying what PLTR’s management are selling?! Aaron Gabin certainly isn't. When commenting on the company's recent earnings call, he described it as a “masterclass in obfuscation". COO Shyam Shankar strings together impressive sounding technology phrases like no other executive ever! PLTR continues its run of (unexplainable) exploding profitability. It also continues its unmatched run of making preposterous claims about its business. The fact that five C-Suite executives have sold $250m in stock since mid Feb only increases Aaron's conviction in his short thesis.
Edition: 111
- 28 May, 2021