What happened
Data-mining and analytics specialist Palantir Technologies (PLTR 3.92%) was a fine stock to own on Wednesday. The company's shares rocketed more than 5% higher on the happy news of a contract with one of the top automakers in the world.
So what
Early that morning, Palantir said it has forged a new deal with Stellantis (STLA 1.75%), the big global auto manufacturer. Under the terms of the arrangement, Stellantis will implement the Palantir Foundry operating system (OS) throughout its business. Palantir Foundry is an OS-designed system to integrate the vast and disparate sources of data from an organization into a single system.
Among carmakers, Stellantis is one of the most sprawling manufacturers. It makes Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ram, and Alfa Romeo vehicles, in addition to other brands. All told, 14 brands are in its portfolio; its peers concentrate on only a handful, at best.
In its press release on the arrangement, Palantir wrote, "[T]his agreement will expand Palantir's previous relationships with Stellantis' founding companies to a global, enterprisewide license across the company's vast ecosystem." It also added that, "Foundry will also help increase Stellantis' insight into parts availability and shift its tooling to meet the needs of customers in a supply driven world."
The company didn't provide any financial details of the latest Stellantis deal.
Now what
Although Stellantis is not a new customer for Palantir, it's a large, busy, and important one. So this expansion of the two companies' partnership is unambiguously a win for the data specialist, even if we don't yet have any details about its financial size and scope.