Palantir’s $823 Million Deal

Today is Wednesday, October 6, 2021.

Palantir’s $823 Million Deal Pushes Stock Higher

Shares of software company Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) shot up 13.74% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after announcing it was selected to get an $823 million contract from the U.S. Army.

Details: As part of the deal, Palantir will deliver the Army’s Intelligence data fabric and analytics foundation through final testing and fielding.

Numbers: It hasn’t been a pretty year for Palantir. Shares are down less than 1% in 2021, even though many analysts had high expectations for the stock at the beginning of the year.

The Good: Palantir’s financials are in good shape. Its revenues have continuously gone up, including a strong earnings beat in the second quarter.

The Bad: Palantir is considered to be one of the Reddit meme stocks. The stock is also down 13% in the past month.

Final Thoughts: Palantir also announced that it received another contract on Monday to support research for the National Institutes of Health.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Levi Strauss (NYSE: LEVI), Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI), RPM International (NYSE: RPM), Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ).

Notable IPOs Today: Oxus Acquisition Corp. Class A Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: OXUS), Volcon, Inc. Common stock (Nasdaq: VLCN), Nuvei Corporation Subordinate Voting Shares (Nasdaq: NVEI).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Lakrisha Davis and Company (SMBX).

Notable Economic Events Today: ADP Unemployment (8:15 a.m. ET), Crude Oil Inventories (10:30 a.m. ET).

Pepsi Grows Despite Inflation

PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP), the parent company of Pepsi, reported strong earnings yesterday but said that inflation is becoming a problem.

Numbers: The company reported $1.79 earnings per share, better than the expected projection of $1.73. And revenue topped over $20 billion in the quarter, which was better than the projection of $19 billion.

Details: In addition to a growing beverage business, Pepsico experienced growth in the quarter in subsidiaries such as Quaker Foods and Frito-Lay. The company expects revenue to grow 8% in the next year.

Problems: Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a press release that there was a “volatile supply chain and cost environment.” And CFO High Johnson said on CNBC that the company may have to raise prices in the next few months due to inflation issues.

Final Thoughts: Despite these inflation issues, Pepsi’s stock went up 0.59% on Tuesday. Maybe inflation won’t automatically hurt every stock?

Alternative Stocks to Apple

There’s no denying the popularity of Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, but there are some alternative stocks to consider that compete in the same industry.

Underdog: Yes, Apple stock is up 10% this year. But Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is up 40% this year. And it’s less than $6 per share.

Meme Stock: BlackBerry (NYSE: BB) is a meme stock that gets results. Up 47% this year, the company is trying to reinvent itself for today’s market.

Moto: Shares of Motorola (NYSE: MSI) are up 48% this year and there is a dividend with a 1.2% yield. The mobility products for the company span multiple industries.

Final Thoughts: All of these mobile tech stocks are up so far this year. Will that continue?

Trends to Watch

It Doesn’t Hertz to Read This: Hertz Stock Jumps After Tapping Ex-Ford Head as Interim CEO (Bloomberg / Yahoo!)

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