By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 4 (Radarr Africa) – Shares in US data-analytics company Palantir fell on Tuesday even though it beat third-quarter expectations and guided to fourth-quarter revenue well above analysts’ forecasts, as investors focused on a slowdown in new contract bookings.
Palantir reported revenue of $2.3 billion and net income of $1.1 billion, both ahead of estimates, according to Investopedia’s market report carried by Yahoo Finance. Its fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $2.649 billion to $2.653 billion compared with a Visible Alpha mean estimate of below $2.5 billion, the report said.
The company’s closed contract value was about $2.9 billion, down from the previous quarter, Investopedia reported. Shares fell as much as 7 per cent early in the session and were down between about 1.5 per cent and 4 per cent later in the day, it said.
TheStreet said Palantir beat third-quarter expectations and raised its full-year guidance, but that the shares fell on what it called a sharp deceleration in new contract bookings and valuation concerns.
Chief executive Alex Karp described the company’s growth as “unmatched in recent economic history”, according to Investopedia.
The sell-off came on a day when the technology sector was trying to recover from a three-day slide. Investopedia said the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were recovering from three days of tech-led losses, and that Nvidia and Broadcom each gained about 3 per cent. Intel rose 0.6 per cent after a 37 per cent drop over the three-day slump, it said.
The Nasdaq finished the day 0.83 per cent higher and the S&P 500 gained 0.36 per cent, while the Dow fell 0.38 per cent, according to TheStreet.
Palantir was not the only company to fall after reporting results that beat forecasts. TheStreet said Apple and Palantir were both trading lower after beating on revenue and profit. Shopify fell about 16.3 per cent early after reporting adjusted earnings of $0.49 a share, against $0.47 expected, with gross merchandise volume of $119.1 billion falling short of the $120 billion expected, it reported.
Gartner dropped 16.94 per cent after beating third-quarter earnings, as questions arose over the quality of its growth, and Dynatrace fell 14.82 per cent on weak forward guidance and margin concerns, TheStreet reported.
TheStreet quoted analyst Daniela Hathorn of Capital.com as saying: “Elevated Treasury yields are adding to the pressure.” She said higher yields make future earnings less valuable in today’s terms.
The 10-year Treasury yield stood at about 4.96 per cent on Tuesday, according to Investopedia, up from 4.91 per cent.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Nasdaq futures were down 1.8 per cent as early midterm election results pointed to Democratic gains, with strategists linking the move to concerns about regulatory scrutiny of AI and big technology companies.
Apple also reported on Tuesday. Investopedia said the iPhone maker’s fiscal third-quarter revenue was $114.5 billion and net profit $30.7 billion, both above estimates, though gross margins fell from the previous quarter, mainly because of memory costs. Apple shares, up about 25 per cent this year through Monday, fell about 4 per cent in premarket trading, it said.
Apple chief executive John Ternus, who recently succeeded Tim Cook, said the company had “an incredible lineup to carry us into the holiday season”, according to Investopedia.
