American big data analytics company Palantir Technologies (PLTR) is making a million bucks through the “Revolving Door” technique, according to a Financial Times report. Interestingly, the report suggests that Palantir leverages the “revolving door” technique, which implies hiring and rotating high-level executives to and from government agencies to gain millions of dollars in government contracts. It’s a way of having an indirect influence on the government’s contracting decisions.
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The report cited a detailed analysis by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a self-described information and research hub for journalists, academics, policymakers, and the public, that seeks to make large tech companies accountable.
The Revolving Door Does All the Magic for PLTR
Palantir is said to be benefiting from the movement of high-level officials in influential roles between the company and Washington and Westminster. The same technique has been allegedly driving its solid growth over the last couple of years. Moreover, Palantir’s co-founder and chairman Peter Thiel has been one of the major supporters of President Donald Trump, drawing in much more favor for the tech giant. Thiel also gave a massive party at Trump’s inauguration in January, which was attended by the likes of Meta Platforms (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Palantir generates a major chunk of its revenues from government contracts. Since 2009, PLTR is said to have won over $2.7 billion in U.S. contracts, including $1.3 billion in Pentagon contracts. At the same time, Palantir has earned over £376 million in government contracts in the UK, according to another data provider Tussell.
These million-dollar worth of contracts supposedly stemmed from Palantir’s deep ties with the U.S. Department of Defence, large corporations, as well as massive lobbying spending ($5.8 million in 2024) in the U.S. Additionally, Palantir is said to have created a big non-profit organization to support academic research and influence policies.
The Exchange of Officials
Interestingly, Trump also hired some of Palantir’s officials for government roles, such as PLTR CEO Alex Karp’s senior advisor Jacob Helberg as under-secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment. Plus, ex-PLTR executive Gregory Barbaccia joined as federal chief information officer at the executive office of the President. He will be responsible for overseeing the U.S.’ $70 billion IT (information technology) budget.
Meanwhile, Palantir has also hired both Republican and Democratic officials to the company’s important roles such as to identify contract opportunities. Apparently, at least six officers have been moved between the company and the Pentagon.
Similarly, in the UK, Palantir has hired influential people from political backgrounds and experience with the Defence Department to gain traction and win contracts. Also, Palantir allegedly hired two senior NHS officials just before winning the £330 million NHS contract in November 2023.
Is Palantir Stock a Good Buy?
Despite the above findings, Palantir, indeed, has some of the best AI (artificial intelligence)-driven data analytics solutions globally. PLTR CEO Alex Karp also said recently that he expects favorable windfalls from the president’s attention on budget efficiency and enhanced national security.
However, analysts prefer to remain on the sidelines on Palantir stock as some view the stock’s valuation as too pricey. On TipRanks, PLTR stock has a Hold consensus rating based on two Buys, ten Holds, and five Sell ratings. The average Palantir Technologies stock price target of $88.60 implies 20.1% downside potential from current levels. In the past year, PLTR stock has gained over 342%.
