Inside the lovefest between Palantir and its army of retail investors

For Katherine H., a 60-year-old individual chef, the current rise in Palantir stock has actually been a “blessing.”

Katherine had actually lost her Tampa, Florida home, automobile, and many nostalgic belongings to the flooding stimulated by Typhoon Helene simply a couple of months earlier.

However after this week’s boom in Palantir stock, her fortunes are beginning to reverse.

” It came at such a time, for me personally, that it offers me much required motivation,” Katherine informed Service Expert.

She had actually been dollar expense averaging– basically investing at routine periods– into Palantir because she initially bought the stock in October 2020, ultimately developing a position of simply over 1,000 shares at a typical expense basis of about $14.

She’s now resting on a $100,000 revenue, brokerage records seen by Service Expert program.

Katherine is amongst the numerous retail financiers who have actually stacked into shares of the AI-powered information analytics business because it went public in September 2020.

The stock had a rough start, to be sure, trading in between about $5 and $30 for its very first three-and-a-half years as a public business. However after a 341% increase in 2024 and a 52% increase currently in 2025, Palantir is trading at around $115 per share.

With couple of bulls amongst Wall Street experts, Palantir might owe much of its success to its dedicated base of retail financiers.

Among the factors the tech company has such a huge following amongst private financiers– with the r/PLTR subreddit generating almost 100,000 members– is because of its vibrant CEO, Alex Karp.

Karp co-founded Palantir in 2004 and has actually ended up being called a firebrand who accepts disturbance and fasts to provide spicy quotes on business revenues calls.

He’s likewise quite meme-able. Throughout the middle of a podcast interview in 2015, Karp popped a Zynn pouch and spun a book on his finger while being asked a concern.

” I can’t think im stating this however alex karp may be the coolest feature of palantir,” Alex Tseng, CEO of Ares Industries, stated in a post to X in 2015, referencing the video.

For Katherine, Karp was among the factors she believed in the stock.

” He’s a radical, and I believe he should have to be. He’s doing things his method, and it definitely has actually benefited the shareholders,” Katherine stated.

Karp has actually long avoided the “guidelines” of running a public business.

He avoided the conventional IPO path, which counts on financial investment banks to market the stock to institutional financiers and after that offers those financiers top priority to purchase the stock at an appealing cost before retail can leap in.

Rather, Palantir selected a direct listing, which enabled retail financiers to purchase the stock at the very same cost as institutional financiers when it went public.

In continuing to lean into his retail fanbase, Karp typically responds to concerns from retail financiers before he resolves sell-side experts throughout revenues calls. In its newest call, simply 2 experts– Wedbush expert Dan Ives and Bank of America expert Mariana Perez Mora– were provided the chance to pitch questions about business.

Ives informed BI that he believes retail comprehended the Palantir story before conventional Wall Street organizations.

” It’s not cookie-cutter Wall Street, however Palantir’s altering the innovation area, and retail comprehended that, and I believe the Palantir group accepted that also.”

” I held due to the fact that it’s a strong company that was misinterpreted for several years and I understood it would recuperate and grow,” Nick F., a 39-year-old innovation expert from Washington, D.C., informed BI.

Nick had actually tossed his future retirement into doubt after he got burned by the SPAC trend a couple of years earlier, however he chose to keep his almost 1,000 shares of Palantir, in part due to the fact that of Karp.

” He’s a genius. Eccentric however a genius. Laser-focused on the objective and development,” Nick stated.

For Frank F., a 28-year-old company financing expert living in New york city City, the rise in Palantir stock has actually been life-altering.

Frank began dipping his toes in the investing world throughout the meme stock trend of 2020, and found Palantir in November 2021, buying 1,000 shares at about $23 each.

” I held, and I was down a substantial quantity of cash for me at that time. However as business advanced and as I followed the offers that they were closing, I simply ended up being a growing number of persuaded that the stock was one day going to go bananas,” Frank informed BI.

Fast-forward to November 2023, and Frank wagered huge on the stock, liquidating his whole Roth IRA account and investing about $180,000 in Palantir stock.

” I went nuts. I put whatever I had. I YOLO ‘d into Palantir at $19,” Frank stated. “The rest is type of history.”

Frank’s account worth is now about $940,000, account declarations reveal. He cut some stock at about $80 in December to secure his preliminary financial investment and is now having fun with “home cash,” letting the rest trip.

Karp likewise played a huge function in Frank’s self-confidence in Palantir stock.

” I enjoy the guy. I believe he’s incredible,” Frank stated. “He type of has actually constantly been the underdog in Wall Street, and he’s been shit on by Wall Street for so long, and he’s type of constantly simply taken retail financiers like myself under his wing.”

Regarding what he prepares to do with his Palantir revenues, Frank stated purchasing an apartment in New york city City would be good, however for now, he prepares to “type of simply hang on it and chill.”

Katherine likewise prepares to keep her Palantir stock.

” I’m not offering anything,” she stated. “I’m holding on. I like it a lot, and I truly believe they have an actually excellent outlook for what they’re doing. They simply keep getting agreements, all of these military agreements.”

Nick stated he cut a few of his Palantir stock along the method, however is still keeping about half of his preliminary position and does not prepare to offer anymore shares– and now his retirement strategy is back on track.

” I have actually recuperated the majority of my losses and back to being on track for a retirement,” Nick stated.

For Palantir and its retail financiers, the affection is shared.

” Alex, as constantly, we have a great deal of private financiers on the line. Exists anything you wish to state before we end the call,” Palantir’s Ana Soro asked Karp throughout the business’s revenues call today.

” Let’s not talk with experts about the concern of being right,” Karp reacted. “I’m really pleased to have you along for the journey and you are partners for us. Every Palantirian, we are squashing it.”