Quick Stats: Palantir Q3 2026 Earnings Results
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Earnings Date | November 2, 2026, after the 4:00 PM ET US close (2:30 AM IST, November 3), webcast at 5:00 PM ET (3:30 AM IST) |
| Actual Revenue | $2.313B vs $2.18B estimate, beat by 6.1%, up 96% YoY, first quarter above $2B |
| Actual EPS (adjusted) | $0.44 vs $0.41 estimate, beat by 7.3%, more than double the $0.21 a year ago |
| Adjusted Operating Income | $1.427B, 62% margin, vs guidance of $1.292B to $1.296B |
| GAAP Net Income | $1.128B, 49% margin |
| US Commercial Revenue | $984M, up 148% YoY, above US government revenue of $953M for the first time |
| Adjusted Free Cash Flow | $1.216B, 53% margin |
| Q4 Guide | Revenue $2.649B to $2.653B vs about $2.46B consensus |
| Stock Reaction | Down about 3% to 3.8% after hours, from a $178.34 close |
Palantir Q3 2026: Results, Stock Reaction and What Actually Happened
Palantir reported its Q3 2026 financial results on Monday, November 2, 2026, following the close of regular US trading hours. The release crossed wires at 4:00 PM ET (2:30 AM IST on November 3), with executive management hosting its webcast at 5:00 PM ET (3:30 AM IST). Ahead of the event, we broke down critical valuation multiples and contract targets in our Palantir Q3 2026 earnings preview.
The enterprise software leader delivered $2.313 billion in consolidated revenue, an increase of 96% year on year. This topped the $2.18 billion Street consensus compiled by LSEG by 6.1% and finished 7.0% above the midpoint of company guidance ($2.160 billion to $2.164 billion). Adjusted EPS reached $0.44, beating consensus forecasts of $0.41 by 7.3%.
Despite the double beat and an upward revision to full-year guidance, Palantir shares slipped approximately 3% to 3.8% in after-hours trading to fluctuate between $171.50 and $173.00. The stock had settled the regular cash session at $178.34 (down 3.1% on the day), trading roughly 16% below its 52-week peak of $212.94.
The muted market reaction reflected high expectations: options markets had priced an implied post-earnings move of nearly 13%, and the equity was valued at roughly 114 to 125 times forward earnings. Analysts pointed to high valuation multiples, a deceleration in quarterly bookings, and a sequential moderation in Q4 revenue growth as the main drivers behind the profit-taking.
Palantir has beaten consensus EPS forecasts in each of its last five operating quarters. However, the size of its EPS surprise narrowed to 7.3% this quarter, down from 20.6% in Q2. Historical stock price action has been variable across this run, demonstrating that a headline beat alone is insufficient without broad bookings acceleration.
Also Read: Apple FY26 Q4 Earnings Results from the same evening. For the wider calendar, see our earnings season guide and the US stocks hub.
The Numbers That Actually Mattered
US Commercial Revenue Reached $984M (+148% YoY), Surpassing Government Sales
US commercial revenue climbed 148% year on year and 29% sequentially to $984 million, overtaking US government revenue ($953 million, up 96% YoY) for the first time in corporate history.
Total domestic US revenue reached $1.937 billion (up 119% YoY), making up 84% of total company sales. International commercial sales advanced 21% year on year to $184 million, rising just 1% from Q2.
Growth was driven primarily by expansion inside existing client accounts:
- Net Dollar Retention: Rose 800 basis points sequentially to 165%.
- Customer Base: US commercial customer accounts grew 29% year on year to 686 organizations.
- Top-Tier Concentration: Trailing twelve-month revenue across Palantir’s top 20 enterprise customers expanded 76% to an average of $146 million per account.
- Deal Velocity: Closed transactions valued at $1 million or more rose modestly from 204 to 212 deals year on year, confirming that top-line acceleration is coming from larger enterprise software rollouts rather than high volumes of small pilots.
Profitability: 62% Adjusted Operating Margin, but Free Cash Flow Margin Fell to 53%
Adjusted operating income reached $1.427 billion, reflecting a 62% operating margin and finishing 10.3% above the midpoint of management’s $1.292 billion to $1.296 billion guided range.
GAAP operating income topped the billion-dollar milestone for the first time at $1.085 billion (a 47% margin), and GAAP net income reached $1.128 billion (a 49% margin). GAAP diluted EPS matched adjusted EPS at $0.44. The company’s Rule of 40 metric reached 158%, marking its 13th consecutive quarter of expansion.
The primary metric that softened sequentially was cash flow conversion: adjusted free cash flow stood at $1.216 billion, essentially flat compared to $1.220 billion in Q2. As a result, free cash flow margin contracted from 63% to 53% as revenue grew 20% sequentially. Palantir closed the quarter with $10.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and US Treasury securities.
Bookings: Total Contract Value Up Only 6% YoY While Revenue Grew 96%
Total contract value (TCV) closed in the quarter was $2.918 billion, up 6% year on year compared to 49% growth in Q2, and down roughly 13.5% from the $3.373 billion closed in the prior quarter.
US commercial contract value reached $1.463 billion, up 11% year on year, but down roughly 31% from the record $2.132 billion closed in Q2.
Remaining deal metrics showed more stability:
- US Commercial Remaining Deal Value: Reached $6.517 billion, up 79% year on year (up 4% sequentially).
- Total Remaining Deal Value: Stood at $13.4 billion, up 55% year on year.
- Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO): Closed at $4.9 billion, up 88% year on year.
The gap between 6% TCV bookings growth and 96% revenue expansion formed the basis of the cautious market reaction, as contract bookings represent the forward-looking indicator for software delivery.
Quarterly Trend: Palantir
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY Growth | Adj. Operating Margin | Adjusted EPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $1.181B | +63% | 51% | $0.21 |
| Q4 2025 | $1.407B | +70% | 57% | $0.25 |
| Q1 2026 | $1.633B | +85% | 60% | $0.33 |
| Q2 2026 | $1.935B | +93% | 62% | $0.41 |
| Q3 2026 | $2.313B | +96% | 62% | $0.44 |
Source: Palantir earnings releases (SEC Form 8-K) for each quarter.
Revenue growth has accelerated across all five operating quarters, scaling from 63% to 96%, with sequential quarterly expansion holding between 16% and 20%. Adjusted operating margin widened from 51% to 62% over the timeframe, though it held steady between Q2 and Q3 at 61.7% as adjusted operational expenses climbed roughly 20% sequentially.
CFO Dave Glazer noted that this expense increase reflected planned R&D investments in the Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) and seasonal technical engineering additions.
What Management Said and What It Changes
During the conference call, leadership focused on enterprise model ownership, software sovereignty, and multi-year client adoption:
- Sovereign AI Infrastructure: CEO Alex Karp emphasized that the deployment of Sovereign AI is driving institutional divergence, noting: “Customers increasingly demand sovereign control over their operational data, analytical pipelines, and proprietary model architectures.”
- Net Retention and Expansion: Management reported that net dollar retention expanded to 165% (an 800-basis-point increase QoQ), with Karp emphasizing that large corporate accounts are expanding their deployments across core operational workflows rather than running isolated tests.
- Capital Position: Management reiterated that Palantir operates with zero funded debt and holds $10.4 billion in liquid balance-sheet reserves.
Strategic Implications: The structural composition of Palantir’s revenue has shifted: US commercial now exceeds government sales, dampening the impact of federal procurement cycles on quarterly revenue. The primary question for traders is whether new contract bookings will reaccelerate to match the higher revenue trajectory set by forward guidance.
Guidance: Q4 and Full Year 2026
| Guidance Metric | Palantir Guidance | Prior Guidance | Consensus | vs Consensus | vs Prior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2026 revenue | $2.649B to $2.653B | Not applicable | About $2.46B | 7.8% above | Not applicable |
| Q4 adjusted operating income | $1.640B to $1.644B | Not applicable | About $1.41B | 16.5% above | Not applicable |
| FY2026 revenue | $8.530B to $8.534B | $8.150B to $8.158B | About $8.2B | About 4% above | Up 4.6% |
| FY2026 US commercial revenue | Above $3.559B (at least +143%) | Above $3.424B (at least +134%) | None cited | Not available | Up 3.9% |
| FY2026 adjusted operating income | $5.245B to $5.249B | $4.889B to $4.897B | About $4.76B | 10.2% above | Up 7.2% |
| FY2026 adjusted free cash flow | $4.8B to $5.0B | $4.5B to $4.7B | None cited | Not available | Up 6.5% |
Consensus sources: LSEG via Reuters and XTB for revenue, XTB for adjusted operating income. Other vendors show a higher adjusted operating income consensus (investinglive has about $1.45B for Q4), so those beat percentages vary by source. Percentage changes are our calculations on guidance midpoints.
The Q4 revenue midpoint of $2.651B implies 88% year on year growth and 14.6% sequential growth, slower than the 96% and 20% reported in Q3, a gap that TipRanks also flagged. The raise itself is larger than the beat, however. The full-year revenue midpoint rose by $378M to $8.532B, more than twice the $151M by which Q3 beat its own guidance midpoint, which means the Q4 guide sits $227M above what the prior full-year guidance implied for the quarter (our calculation).
How Palantir Q3 2026 Earnings Impact the Stock: Trader’s Takeaway
Palantir’s Q3 2026 report puts the stock at a point where a strong beat and a large raise met a valuation that leaves little margin for slower growth. The stock traded about 3% to 3.8% lower after hours, at roughly $171.50 to $173, which is a modest move against the 13% that options had priced.
Bullish Case
The case for a recovery rests on the size of the raise. Full-year adjusted operating income guidance sits about 10% above the roughly $4.76B consensus (per XTB), and the Q4 revenue guide is about 8% above consensus. A move back above the $178.34 close would show buyers absorbing the dip, and reclaiming the $184.11 close of October 30 would also erase the pre-earnings decline. Beyond those levels, the next references are Cantor Fitzgerald’s $207 target, which the firm raised from $156 on November 2 ahead of the report while keeping a Neutral rating, and the record high of $212.94.
Bearish Case
The bear case rests on valuation and bookings. At roughly 125 times trailing adjusted earnings (our calculation, using the $178.34 close and $1.43 of adjusted EPS over the last four quarters), the stock leaves little room for a slowing growth rate, and the Q4 guide implies 88% growth against 96% this quarter. The after-hours range of about $171.50 to $173 is the first level to watch, and a full 13% options-implied move from the $178.34 close would have taken the stock to roughly $155 on the downside and $201.50 on the upside (our calculation). RBC Capital maintains an Underperform rating with a $90 target, reiterated on October 28 ahead of the report, which shows how wide the range of analyst views remains.
For Indian traders, the results arrived after 2:30 AM IST on November 3, well before Indian equity markets open at 9:15 AM IST, and the first full US regular session after the report begins at 8:00 PM IST.
Earnings Surprise History
Palantir has beaten adjusted EPS estimates in 5 of the last 5 quarters, with an average surprise of 15.6%, but this quarter’s 7.3% is the smallest of the five.
| Quarter | Adjusted EPS | Consensus EPS | Surprise | Revenue vs Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $0.21 | $0.17 | +23.5% | Beat by about 8% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.25 | $0.23 | +8.7% | Beat by about 5% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.33 | $0.28 | +17.9% | Beat by about 6% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.41 | $0.34 | +20.6% | Beat by about 6% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.44 | $0.41 | +7.3% | Beat by about 6% |
Consensus sources: Zacks (Q3 2025), Bloomberg (Q4 2025), Palantir News, XTB (Q2 2026), TipRanks (Q3 2026). Revenue beats are approximate, and data vendors differ, so surprises may vary slightly elsewhere.
The pattern shows that revenue beats have held in a steady band of roughly 5% to 8%, while EPS beats have narrowed from 20.6% in Q2 to 7.3% in Q3. Adjusted EPS and GAAP diluted EPS were both $0.44 this quarter, so the headline beat does not depend on the adjustments. The narrowing suggests that analyst estimates have moved closer to Palantir’s actual results, even as growth has accelerated.
How to Trade US Stock Futures from India on CoinDCX
Indian market participants can access price movements in Palantir using CoinDCX US Stock Futures funded directly in INR without overseas banking transfers:
- Open the CoinDCX App: Launch the official application on your mobile device.
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Read our detailed tutorial: How to Trade on US Stocks Movements from India
Disclaimer
This article has been prepared by the CoinDCX Research Team for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. All data and figures cited are sourced from publicly available information including Palantir’s investor relations materials, SEC filings, and third-party financial sources at the time of publication. Figures described as our calculation are derived from the reported numbers and should be verified before use. Past performance of any stock, including Palantir, is not indicative of future results. Trading US Stock Futures involves risk, including the risk of loss of capital. Please conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any trading or investment decisions. CoinDCX is not liable for any trading decisions made based on the content of this article.
