Palantir Technologies, the data analysis specialist co-founded by Peter Thiel, has seen a market value increase of over $23 billion since the election of Donald Trump as US President. Investors are betting that the company will benefit from an increase in government spending on national security, immigration, and space exploration.

With a stock price of 61 USD, nearly tripling within a year, Palantir achieves a market capitalization of almost 140 billion USD. This surpasses established defense giants like Lockheed Martin and shows how much Palantir benefits from the AI boom and its government contracts.

In the third quarter, Palantir achieved a record net income of 144 million US dollars. For the fourth quarter, an adjusted profit of approximately 300 million US dollars is expected. The company had its first profitable year in 2023, driven by growing contracts in the private sector, which now accounts for 35 percent of revenue.

The US government remains the largest customer.

Analysts see the close ties of Palantir founders to the Trump administration as an advantage. The new president is expected to prefer higher defense spending and private sector solutions. Palantir's involvement in a consortium for the commercial space station Starlab could also benefit from this.

Since 2010, Palantir has expanded its fields of business into the private sector. Companies like BP, CVS Health, and General Mills use the platform to optimize processes with AI. The introduction of the AI platform last year further accelerated this expansion.

The inclusion in the S&P 500 in September underscores the company's importance. Starting November 26, Palantir will also be listed on the Nasdaq, which is likely to enable additional capital flow from index-based funds.

Despite the impressive performance, analysts warn about the high valuation. With a price-earnings ratio of 130 for the next year, Palantir is well above the industry average. RBC analysts recently set a price target of only 9 USD per share.