OkWhat happened
In contrast to the slump of the broader stock market, specialty tech company Palantir Technologies (PLTR -0.74%) edged up in price on Wednesday. The combination of a fresh new deal with a partner across the Pacific Ocean and an award from a respected research company pushed the stock up nearly 1% higher on the day.
So what
After market hours on Tuesday, Palantir announced that it has expanded its cooperation with said partner, South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries Group. Palantir will deliver its Palantir Foundry solution to businesses within the sprawling industrial conglomerate that concentrate on ship building. For Hyundai, this is part of a push to modernize its operations in the segment.
All told, the modification to the two companies' existing arrangement will be worth $20 million over the coming five years. That nearly doubles Palantir's take from Hyundai; across that half-decade stretch, the total contracts with the Asian company will tally more than $45 million.
Hyundai and the American specialty tech company have been partners for quite some time. The latter company pointed out that another of the conglomerate's many units, Hyundai Doosan Infracore, has been using Foundry since 2019.
Meanwhile, Palantir announced that it was ranked as the No. 1 artificial intelligence (AI) software platform operator for 2021 in a recently issued analysis from tech market researcher IDC. In the latter's publication "Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Platforms Software Market Shares, 2021: AI is Being Used in More Unique Ways Than Ever," Palantir nabbed the top spot in terms of both market share and total revenue.
Now what
The Palantir/Hyundai partnership looks like it'll deepen, if anything. In its press release trumpeting the expanded deal, Palantir wrote that "Today's announcement marks a significant step toward the formation of a joint venture." In January, the two companies signed a formal agreement to create a big data platform for use throughout Hyundai's businesses.
