Palantir Technologies, Inc.: Difference between revisions

(Added risks section)
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==== Risks related to Business and Industry:- ====
==== Risks related to Business and Industry:- ====


# The company has a history of losses ; operating expenses are estimated to increase further and the company may not be able to maintain profitability in the future.  
# The company has a history of losses ; operating expenses are estimated to increase further and the company may not be able to maintain profitability in the future.<ref name=":2">https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1321655/000132165523000011/pltr-20221231.htm#i906e7aef1c274338a29de70844f3334b_61</ref>
# Sale efforts involve considerable time and expenses , sales cycles are long and often unpredictable  
# Sale efforts involve considerable time and expenses , sales cycles are long and often unpredictable<ref name=":2" />
# Historically, existing customers have expanded their relationships with Palantir, which has resulted in a limited number of customers accounting for a substantial portion of its revenue. If existing customers do not make subsequent purchases  or renew their contracts, or if relationships with the largest customers are impaired or terminated, Palantir's revenue could decline, and the results of operations would be adversely impacted.
# Historically, existing customers have expanded their relationships with Palantir, which has resulted in a limited number of customers accounting for a substantial portion of its revenue. If existing customers do not make subsequent purchases  or renew their contracts, or if relationships with the largest customers are impaired or terminated, Palantir's revenue could decline, and the results of operations would be adversely impacted.<ref name=":2" />
# Results of operations and key business measures are likely to fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis in future periods and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of the business, which makes  future results difficult to predict and could cause results of operations to fall below expectations.
# Results of operations and key business measures are likely to fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis in future periods and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of the business, which makes  future results difficult to predict and could cause results of operations to fall below expectations.<ref name=":2" />
# Seasonality may cause fluctuations in results of operations and financial position
# Seasonality may cause fluctuations in results of operations and financial position<ref name=":2" />
# Palantir's platforms are complex and may have a lengthy implementation process, and any failure of  platforms to satisfy its customers or perform as desired could harm  business, results of operations, and financial condition.
# Palantir's platforms are complex and may have a lengthy implementation process, and any failure of  platforms to satisfy its customers or perform as desired could harm  business, results of operations, and financial condition.<ref name=":2" />
# New and existing platforms and changes to existing platforms could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:
# New and existing platforms and changes to existing platforms could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:
#* Failure to predict market demand accurately in terms of product functionality and to supply offerings that meet this demand in a timely fashion;  
#* Failure to predict market demand accurately in terms of product functionality and to supply offerings that meet this demand in a timely fashion;  
Line 67: Line 67:
#* Negative publicity or negative private statements about the security, performance, or effectiveness of our platforms or product enhancements;  
#* Negative publicity or negative private statements about the security, performance, or effectiveness of our platforms or product enhancements;  
#* Delays in releasing to the market our new offerings or enhancements to our existing offerings, including new product modules;  
#* Delays in releasing to the market our new offerings or enhancements to our existing offerings, including new product modules;  
#* Introduction or anticipated introduction of competing platforms or functionalities by our competitors;
#* Introduction or anticipated introduction of competing platforms or functionalities by our competitors;<ref name=":2" />
# The competitive position of Palantir's platforms depends in part on its ability to operate with third-party products and services, and if its  not successful in maintaining and expanding the compatibility of platforms with such third-party products and services, its business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
# The competitive position of Palantir's platforms depends in part on its ability to operate with third-party products and services, and if its  not successful in maintaining and expanding the compatibility of platforms with such third-party products and services, its business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely impacted.<ref name=":2" />
# If Palantir is unable to hire, retain, train, and motivate qualified personnel and senior management, including Alexander Karp, one of its  founders and Chief Executive Officer, and deploy personnel and resources to meet customer demand around the world, business could suffer.
# If Palantir is unable to hire, retain, train, and motivate qualified personnel and senior management, including Alexander Karp, one of its  founders and Chief Executive Officer, and deploy personnel and resources to meet customer demand around the world, business could suffer.<ref name=":2" />
# Reputation and business may be harmed by news or social media coverage of Palantir, including but not limited to coverage that presents, or relies on, inaccurate, misleading, incomplete, or otherwise damaging information.
# Reputation and business may be harmed by news or social media coverage of Palantir, including but not limited to coverage that presents, or relies on, inaccurate, misleading, incomplete, or otherwise damaging information.<ref name=":2" />
# Pricing structures for Palantir's platforms and services change from time to time, which could adversely impact the business, financial condition, and results of operations
# Pricing structures for Palantir's platforms and services change from time to time, which could adversely impact the business, financial condition, and results of operations<ref name=":2" />
# If customers are not able or willing to accept Palantir's product-based business model, instead of a labor-based business model, business and results of operations could be negatively impacted.
# If customers are not able or willing to accept Palantir's product-based business model, instead of a labour-based business model, business and results of operations could be negatively impacted.<ref name=":2" />
# Palantir  does not work with the Chinese communist party and have chosen not to host its platforms in China, which may limit its growth prospects.
# Palantir  does not work with the Chinese communist party and have chosen not to host its platforms in China, which may limit its growth prospects.<ref name=":2" />
# In the future, Palantir may not be able to secure the financing necessary to operate and grow business as planned, or to make acquisitions.
# In the future, Palantir may not be able to secure the financing necessary to operate and grow business as planned, or to make acquisitions.<ref name=":2" />


==== Risks to the Class A Common Stock:- ====
==== Risks to the Class A Common Stock:- ====
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#* short-selling of  Class A common stock or related derivative securities;
#* short-selling of  Class A common stock or related derivative securities;
#* Changes to the management
#* Changes to the management
#* General macroeconomic volatilities
#* General macroeconomic volatilities<ref name=":2" />
# Although Palantir  currently is not considered to be a “controlled company” under the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) corporate governance rules, it may in the future become a controlled company due to the concentration of voting power among its Founders and their affiliates.
# Although Palantir  currently is not considered to be a “controlled company” under the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) corporate governance rules, it may in the future become a controlled company due to the concentration of voting power among its Founders and their affiliates.<ref name=":2" />
# The company is not inclined to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future; intends to retain future earnings for the purpose of expansions.  
# The company is not inclined to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future; intends to retain future earnings for the purpose of expansions.<ref name=":2" />
# The multiple class structure of  common stock has the effect of concentrating voting power with certain stockholders, in particular, Founders and their affiliates, which will effectively eliminate investor’s ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control. The Founder Voting Trust Agreement and the Founder Voting Agreement have a similar effect.  
# The multiple class structure of  common stock has the effect of concentrating voting power with certain stockholders, in particular, Founders and their affiliates, which will effectively eliminate investor’s ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control. The Founder Voting Trust Agreement and the Founder Voting Agreement have a similar effect.<ref name=":2" />
# In certain circumstances in the future, the Founders and their affiliates could have voting power that exceeds 49.999999% of the Voting Power.  
# In certain circumstances in the future, the Founders and their affiliates could have voting power that exceeds 49.999999% of the Voting Power.<ref name=":2" />


==== Risks related to relationships and business with the public sector: ====
==== Risks related to relationships and business with the public sector: ====


# A significant portion of Palantir’s business depends on sales to the public sector, and failure to receive and maintain government contracts or changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of the public sector has adversely affected and could continue to adversely affect business, results of operations, financial condition, and growth prospects
# A significant portion of Palantir’s business depends on sales to the public sector, and failure to receive and maintain government contracts or changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of the public sector has adversely affected and could continue to adversely affect business, results of operations, financial condition, and growth prospects.<ref name=":2" />


# The company derives a portion of its revenue from programs with governments and government agencies that are subject to security restrictions (ex: contracts involving classified information, classified contracts, and classified programs), which preclude the dissemination of information and technology that is classified for national security purposes under applicable law and regulation. This may limit investor insight into portions of the company’s business.  
# The company derives a portion of its revenue from programs with governments and government agencies that are subject to security restrictions (ex: contracts involving classified information, classified contracts, and classified programs), which preclude the dissemination of information and technology that is classified for national security purposes under applicable law and regulation. This may limit investor insight into portions of the company’s business.<ref name=":2" />


# The U.S. government may procure non-commercial developmental services rather than commercial products, which could materially impact our future U.S. government business and revenue.
# The U.S. government may procure non-commercial developmental services rather than commercial products, which could materially impact our future U.S. government business and revenue.<ref name=":2" />


# Because Palantir generates a substantial portion of its revenue from contracts with governments and government agencies, and in particular from contracts with the U.S. government and government agencies, its results of operations could be adversely affected by government spending caps or changes in government budgetary priorities, as well as by delays in the government budget process, program starts, or the award of contracts or orders under existing contract vehicles, including as a result of a new U.S. administration. Current U.S. government spending levels for defence-related and other programs may not be sustained beyond government fiscal year 2023
# Because Palantir generates a substantial portion of its revenue from contracts with governments and government agencies, and in particular from contracts with the U.S. government and government agencies, its results of operations could be adversely affected by government spending caps or changes in government budgetary priorities, as well as by delays in the government budget process, program starts, or the award of contracts or orders under existing contract vehicles, including as a result of a new U.S. administration. Current U.S. government spending levels for defence-related and other programs may not be sustained beyond government fiscal year 2023<ref name=":2" />


==== Risks related to legal laws, regulations and accounting: ====
==== Risks related to legal laws, regulations and accounting: ====


# The business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and non-U.S. laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection and security, technology protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to  business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or otherwise harm to business.
# The business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and non-U.S. laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection and security, technology protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to  business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or otherwise harm to business.<ref name=":2" />
# More generally, some observers have noted the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States, as observed with the subsequent adoption of state-level comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, including the following (collectively, the “State Privacy Laws”):  
# More generally, some observers have noted the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States, as observed with the subsequent adoption of state-level comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, including the following (collectively, the “State Privacy Laws”):  


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* the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, which was enacted in March 2022, and will become effective December 31, 2023;  
* the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, which was enacted in March 2022, and will become effective December 31, 2023;  
* Connecticut’s Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring, which was enacted in May 2022 and most of which will become effective July 1, 2023; and
* Connecticut’s Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring, which was enacted in May 2022 and most of which will become effective July 1, 2023; and
* Iowa’s Act Relating to Consumer Data Protection, which was enacted in March 2023 and will become effective January 1, 2025
* Iowa’s Act Relating to Consumer Data Protection, which was enacted in March 2023 and will become effective January 1, 2025.<ref name=":2" />


3. Failure to comply with governmental laws and regulations could harm business, and the company has been, and expect to be, the subject of legal and regulatory inquiries, which may result in monetary payments or may otherwise negatively impact our reputation, business, and results of operation.
3. Failure to comply with governmental laws and regulations could harm business, and the company has been, and expect to be, the subject of legal and regulatory inquiries, which may result in monetary payments or may otherwise negatively impact our reputation, business, and results of operation.<ref name=":2" />


4.Palantir has previously been, and are currently, or in the future may become, involved in a number of legal, regulatory, and administrative inquiries and proceedings, and unfavourable outcomes in litigation or other of these matters could negatively impact  business, financial conditions, and results of operations.
4.Palantir has previously been, and are currently, or in the future may become, involved in a number of legal, regulatory, and administrative inquiries and proceedings, and unfavourable outcomes in litigation or other of these matters could negatively impact  business, financial conditions, and results of operations.<ref name=":2" />


5. Governmental trade controls, including export and import controls, sanctions, customs requirements, and related regimes, could subject the company to liability or loss of contracting privileges or limit its ability to compete in certain markets.
5. Governmental trade controls, including export and import controls, sanctions, customs requirements, and related regimes, could subject the company to liability or loss of contracting privileges or limit its ability to compete in certain markets.<ref name=":2" />


== References and notes ==
== References and notes ==

Revision as of 16:53, 6 July 2023

Palantir technologies is a data science firm specialising in predictive-policing. There flagship product is the Palantir Gotham program.

Company Overview

Background

What does the Company do?

Palantir Technologies assists the world’s most important institutions in analysing large volumes of data to solve the most important real-world problems. Their applications are human driven and are described as ‘intelligence augmentation’, rather than artificial intelligence. Customers using their systems do not to be masters of machine learning and engineers from Palantir directly assist in the use of their systems.

Where did the Idea of the Company Come From?

The initial idea of the company came from the co-founder of Paypal, Peter-Thiel, who saw an opportunity to use Paypal’s fraud recognition systems to reduce terrorism. He felt that the available technology at the time (2004) was inadequate to solve real world problems and was also putting people’s data at risk.

What is the Companies Mission?

Palantir believes in augmenting human intelligence, not replacing it. They believe that machines are best used as a tool for human analysts rather than as their replacements.

What does Palantir Mean?

The name of the company comes from the ‘Palantiri’ seeing stones from ‘Lord of the Rings’, which were able to see events happening around the world.

Products

Palantir Gotham

The flagship government product of Palantir. It is the result of the work between Palantir and the United States Intelligence community. This includes but is not limited to the central intelligence agency (CIA), the federal bureau of investigation (FBI), army intelligence and the national security agency (NSA) constituting a total of 16 American departments and military branches.[1] It uses an AI operating system to predictively police.[2] Little else is known about this work due to its secretive nature.

Palantir Metropolis

The main commercial product of Palantir. Palantir metropolis is designed to help financial institutions make sense of large amounts of data and extract valuable insights from it. It includes a range of tools and features that allow users to explore and analyse data, create visualisations, and build custom applications and workflows.[3] It does this by making use of a machine learning algorithm.[4]

However, Palantir Metropolis received controversy after it was revealed that JP Morgan had used it to spy on its own employees (to identify disgruntled employees) using data gathered from company-owned devices. This data included emails, search histories and GPS data. [4]

Nowadays it has been rebranded and semi-merged [unconfirmed] with the Palantir Foundry product.[5]

Palantir Foundry

This product was produced for the explicit purpose to analyse the operations of the UK NHS vaccination program.[6] It garnered considerable controversy due to Palantir's previous work with the US intelligence and hence extensive military ties.[7]

Nowadays it has been rebranded and semi-merged with the Palantir Metropolis product.

Palantir Apollo

This product is the main DevOps support product of Palantir. It is a continuous delivery system.[8] Its main function is to manage the deploying of the Gotham and Foundry products by allowing the linking of multiple public and private cloud networks.[9]

This allows Palantir Apollo to be sold as a software as a service (SaaS) product (subscription service similar to Netflix) and reduces the need for the company to act as consultants to its clients.

AIP (Artificial Intelligence Platform)

This is the newest product of Palantir aiming to integrate large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT into its privately operated networks (of its clients).[10] However, after the company successfully demonstrated its us in war, where a military operator was able to deploy operations and receive responses via an AI chatbot, the CEO has said that AI poses serious potential risk and that human oversight must be required.[11]

Other

Palantir has also entered joint ventures with First Data to extract trends from customer transactions.[11]

Risks

Risks related to Business and Industry:-

  1. The company has a history of losses ; operating expenses are estimated to increase further and the company may not be able to maintain profitability in the future.[12]
  2. Sale efforts involve considerable time and expenses , sales cycles are long and often unpredictable[12]
  3. Historically, existing customers have expanded their relationships with Palantir, which has resulted in a limited number of customers accounting for a substantial portion of its revenue. If existing customers do not make subsequent purchases or renew their contracts, or if relationships with the largest customers are impaired or terminated, Palantir's revenue could decline, and the results of operations would be adversely impacted.[12]
  4. Results of operations and key business measures are likely to fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis in future periods and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of the business, which makes future results difficult to predict and could cause results of operations to fall below expectations.[12]
  5. Seasonality may cause fluctuations in results of operations and financial position[12]
  6. Palantir's platforms are complex and may have a lengthy implementation process, and any failure of platforms to satisfy its customers or perform as desired could harm business, results of operations, and financial condition.[12]
  7. New and existing platforms and changes to existing platforms could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:
    • Failure to predict market demand accurately in terms of product functionality and to supply offerings that meet this demand in a timely fashion;
    • Product defects, errors, or failures or our inability to satisfy customer service level requirements;
    • Negative publicity or negative private statements about the security, performance, or effectiveness of our platforms or product enhancements;
    • Delays in releasing to the market our new offerings or enhancements to our existing offerings, including new product modules;
    • Introduction or anticipated introduction of competing platforms or functionalities by our competitors;[12]
  8. The competitive position of Palantir's platforms depends in part on its ability to operate with third-party products and services, and if its not successful in maintaining and expanding the compatibility of platforms with such third-party products and services, its business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely impacted.[12]
  9. If Palantir is unable to hire, retain, train, and motivate qualified personnel and senior management, including Alexander Karp, one of its founders and Chief Executive Officer, and deploy personnel and resources to meet customer demand around the world, business could suffer.[12]
  10. Reputation and business may be harmed by news or social media coverage of Palantir, including but not limited to coverage that presents, or relies on, inaccurate, misleading, incomplete, or otherwise damaging information.[12]
  11. Pricing structures for Palantir's platforms and services change from time to time, which could adversely impact the business, financial condition, and results of operations[12]
  12. If customers are not able or willing to accept Palantir's product-based business model, instead of a labour-based business model, business and results of operations could be negatively impacted.[12]
  13. Palantir does not work with the Chinese communist party and have chosen not to host its platforms in China, which may limit its growth prospects.[12]
  14. In the future, Palantir may not be able to secure the financing necessary to operate and grow business as planned, or to make acquisitions.[12]

Risks to the Class A Common Stock:-

  1. Trading price of Class A common stock is likely to be volatile and may decline, regardless of the company’s operating performance. Factors that could affect the stock price include:
    • price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market from time to time;
    •  volatility in the trading prices and trading volumes of technology stocks;
    • changes in operating performance and stock market valuations of other technology companies generally, or those in  industry in particular;
    • sales or expected sales of shares of  Class A common stock by us or company’s stockholders;
    • short-selling of  Class A common stock or related derivative securities;
    • Changes to the management
    • General macroeconomic volatilities[12]
  2. Although Palantir  currently is not considered to be a “controlled company” under the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) corporate governance rules, it may in the future become a controlled company due to the concentration of voting power among its Founders and their affiliates.[12]
  3. The company is not inclined to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future; intends to retain future earnings for the purpose of expansions.[12]
  4. The multiple class structure of  common stock has the effect of concentrating voting power with certain stockholders, in particular, Founders and their affiliates, which will effectively eliminate investor’s ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control. The Founder Voting Trust Agreement and the Founder Voting Agreement have a similar effect.[12]
  5. In certain circumstances in the future, the Founders and their affiliates could have voting power that exceeds 49.999999% of the Voting Power.[12]

Risks related to relationships and business with the public sector:

  1. A significant portion of Palantir’s business depends on sales to the public sector, and failure to receive and maintain government contracts or changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of the public sector has adversely affected and could continue to adversely affect business, results of operations, financial condition, and growth prospects.[12]
  1. The company derives a portion of its revenue from programs with governments and government agencies that are subject to security restrictions (ex: contracts involving classified information, classified contracts, and classified programs), which preclude the dissemination of information and technology that is classified for national security purposes under applicable law and regulation. This may limit investor insight into portions of the company’s business.[12]
  1. The U.S. government may procure non-commercial developmental services rather than commercial products, which could materially impact our future U.S. government business and revenue.[12]
  1. Because Palantir generates a substantial portion of its revenue from contracts with governments and government agencies, and in particular from contracts with the U.S. government and government agencies, its results of operations could be adversely affected by government spending caps or changes in government budgetary priorities, as well as by delays in the government budget process, program starts, or the award of contracts or orders under existing contract vehicles, including as a result of a new U.S. administration. Current U.S. government spending levels for defence-related and other programs may not be sustained beyond government fiscal year 2023[12]

Risks related to legal laws, regulations and accounting:

  1. The business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and non-U.S. laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection and security, technology protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to  business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or otherwise harm to business.[12]
  2. More generally, some observers have noted the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States, as observed with the subsequent adoption of state-level comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, including the following (collectively, the “State Privacy Laws”):
  • the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, which was enacted in March 2021 and became effective on January 1, 2023;
  • the Colorado Privacy Act, which was enacted in June 2021, and will become effective on July 1, 2023;
  • the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, which was enacted in March 2022, and will become effective December 31, 2023;
  • Connecticut’s Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring, which was enacted in May 2022 and most of which will become effective July 1, 2023; and
  • Iowa’s Act Relating to Consumer Data Protection, which was enacted in March 2023 and will become effective January 1, 2025.[12]

3. Failure to comply with governmental laws and regulations could harm business, and the company has been, and expect to be, the subject of legal and regulatory inquiries, which may result in monetary payments or may otherwise negatively impact our reputation, business, and results of operation.[12]

4.Palantir has previously been, and are currently, or in the future may become, involved in a number of legal, regulatory, and administrative inquiries and proceedings, and unfavourable outcomes in litigation or other of these matters could negatively impact  business, financial conditions, and results of operations.[12]

5. Governmental trade controls, including export and import controls, sanctions, customs requirements, and related regimes, could subject the company to liability or loss of contracting privileges or limit its ability to compete in certain markets.[12]

References and notes

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20160302190119/http://www.dni.gov/index.php/intelligence-community/members-of-the-ic
  2. https://www.palantir.com/platforms/gotham/
  3. https://www.dailypalantir.com/post/palantir-overview-beginners#:~:text=Palantir%20Metropolis%20is%20designed%20to,build%20custom%20applications%20and%20workflows.
  4. 4.0 4.1 https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-palantir-peter-thiel/
  5. https://www.palantir.com/platforms/foundry/
  6. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/04/campaign-launched-to-get-palantir-out-of-nhs.html
  7. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-palantir-sales-ipo-20190107-story.html
  8. https://www.palantir.com/platforms/apollo/
  9. https://blog.palantir.com/palantir-apollo-powering-saas-where-no-saas-has-gone-before-7be3e565c379
  10. https://www.palantir.com/platforms/aip/
  11. 11.0 11.1 https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-data-reports-first-quarterly-profit-in-more-than-seven-years-1423602902
  12. 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 12.19 12.20 12.21 12.22 12.23 12.24 12.25 12.26 12.27 https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1321655/000132165523000011/pltr-20221231.htm#i906e7aef1c274338a29de70844f3334b_61