What happened
After some big sell-offs, the market is rallying today, and Palantir (PLTR +0.55%) is getting a boost from the momentum. The data analytics specialist's share price was up roughly 5.7% as of noon ET on Thursday.
In the absence of any fresh, business-specific news, Palantir stock has frequently made outsize moves in conjunction with the market's shifting appetite for growth-dependent technology companies. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up roughly 1.8% as of the same time today. In addition to rebound momentum following steep sell-offs for growth stocks, it's possible that a new report from the Department of Labor is also playing a role.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
The Labor Department released its latest update on unemployment filings today. The report showed that weekly jobless claims had risen to 286,000 for the week ending Jan. 15, coming in significantly ahead of the average economist estimate of 225,000 filings in the period. While the jobless claim numbers still look relatively low on a historical basis, weaker employment data could potentially prompt the Federal Reserve to take a softer approach to cutting back on economic stimulus initiatives.
Lately, Palantir's stock moves have trended in line with the market's assessment of macroeconomic risk factors and its wavering appetite for companies that trade at highly growth-dependent valuations and rely on debt and stock offerings to fund operations. Even with today's rally, the Nasdaq Composite index is down roughly 6.9% across this year's trading, and Palantir's stock has slumped roughly 15.5% across the stretch.
Now what
Palantir now has a market capitalization of roughly $31 billion and is valued at approximately 15.5 times this year's expected sales. The big data company's business has been growing at a healthy clip, with management targeting 40% annual sales growth for 2021 and guiding for sales growth above 30% each year through 2025, but its valuation has slid in the face of shifting market dynamics.
With the company still posting sizable net losses and relying on issuing shares as a key component of employee compensation, the stock is positioned for volatile trading with investors turning skittish on growth-dependent companies. I continue to think that Palantir has a promising long-term outlook, but investors should probably buckle up for more volatility in the near term.
