In a daring move, Citron Research founder Andrew Left has taken a short position against Palantir Technologies, targeting what he sees as one of the market’s most inflated valuations. 
Speaking on Fox Business, Left confirmed he increased his bearish bet following Palantir’s latest earnings release, calling his negative stance on the stock “obvious.”
Palantir operates two major platforms-Gotham, serving government agencies with advanced data analytics, and Foundry, helping enterprises manage and analyze massive data sets. It has also launched its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), integrating various large language models and generative AI into business workflows.
The company’s Q2 performance stunned Wall Street, with Morgan Stanley reacting simply: “Wow.” Palantir posted $1.004 billion in revenue, crushing estimates of $939.71 million. It closed a record 157 deals worth over $1 million each, pushing its total contract value to $2.27 billion, up 140% year-over-year. Its commercial division is projected to hit $1.302 billion in FY 2025, an 85% growth rate, with CEO Alex Karp aiming for a tenfold increase over five years.
Guidance for Q3 revenue stands at $1.083–$1.087 billion, with full-year expectations raised to $4.142–$4.152 billion and free cash flow between $1.8–$2.0 billion. Karp highlighted three key growth drivers: custom AI application demand, data infrastructure expansion, and defense technology modernization.
But the sticking point for Left is valuation-Palantir’s trailing P/E ratio is a staggering 614.57, with a forward P/E of 294.12, dwarfing competitors like SAP at 45.20. Left has a history of high-profile short calls, including Nikola Corporation and Jumia Technologies, both of which saw steep declines after Citron’s reports.
The question now: can Left hold his short position if Palantir’s momentum continues, or will he be forced into a GameStop-style retreat? In markets that can stay irrational longer than investors can stay solvent, the bet is as risky as it gets.