DA Davidson Upgrades Palantir to Buy with $175 Price Target
Miles Bennett
DA Davidson upgraded Palantir from neutral to buy, raising its target from $115 to $175 — implying roughly 39% upside. The core thesis: friction between AI-model vendors and the U.S. government actually strengthens the case for Palantir as an indispensable middle layer.
Why upgrade now?
Analyst Gil Luria's key argument: Anthropic recently clashed with the U.S. government multiple times, leading to restrictions and even the delisting of its AI models.
This means → if a company builds directly on a single AI model and that model gets pulled, its operations could break overnight.
In plain terms = the less stable AI-model vendors are, the more companies need a "switchboard" that can swap models underneath — Palantir is that switchboard.
What problem does Palantir actually solve?
Palantir provides AI orchestration — a tool that manages and coordinates different AI models — rather than building its own models.
With Palantir in place, swapping out one underlying AI model causes virtually no disruption to the business layer above.
This reflects a deeper industry shift: AI models themselves are becoming interchangeable parts. The real value lies in whoever assembles them well.
Is the stock still expensive?
Palantir is down more than 29% year-to-date; its forward P/E has dropped from over 250x last November to roughly 71x today.
Luria calls this "the most attractive valuation in recent memory," especially relative to other high-growth software names.
In plain terms = the stock fell nearly a third, yet the core thesis actually got clearer — cheaper price, stronger story.
Where does the Street stand?
Palantir rose more than 3% on the day of the upgrade.
Of the 33 analysts covering the stock, 21 rate it buy or strong buy, 10 hold neutral, and only 2 are bearish.
This means → most of Wall Street is already on the bull side, but the key question remains: can sustained earnings growth justify a 71x multiple?
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.