Quick overview

---

Palantir’s explosive stock rise has reached a new milestone. It now ranks among the top 20 most valuable U.S. corporations.

The defense agency’s software and data analytics provider saw its stock increase by more than 2 percent on Friday, setting a new record. The company’s market capitalization now stands at $375 billion, surpassing both Home Depot and Procter & Gamble.

PLTR’s market value has more than doubled this year as investors increase their bets on the company’s artificial intelligence business and ties to the U.S. government, surpassing Bank of America and Coca-Cola. Since its founding in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp (the CEO), and others, the company has gradually built a growing client base. Revenue from Palantir’s U.S. government business grew by 45% to $373 million in the most recent quarter, while overall sales increased by 39% to $884 million.

Palantir broke into the top 10 U.S. tech companies by market valuation earlier this year, surpassing Salesforce, IBM, and Cisco. Investing at these levels requires paying substantial multiples. According to FactSet, Palantir is currently trading at 273 times forward earnings.   Palantir is smaller than the next smallest by sales, with $3.1 billion in revenue over the past year. The closest is Mastercard, which has  $29 billion in sales over the last four quarters and is valued at $518 billion.