Palantir made a ton of money this year thanks to strong US demand. But don't expect much growth in Europe.

Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp at a US Senate AI forum in Washington, DC, in 2023. Stefani Reynolds for AFP via Getty Images

• Palantir’s first quarter revenue jumped 21% from last year, mostly from US customers.
• International earnings dropped due to “headwinds in Europe,” the chief financial officer said.
• CEO Alex Karp maintained his support for Israel and again slammed campus protests.

Palantir raked in more money than ever last quarter — and much of it came from customers in its backyard, according to the company’s earnings released Monday.

Denver, Colorado-based Palantir, which develops software for private and military purposes, posted revenue of $634 million in the quarter ending March 31, a 21% increase from the same time last year. The revenue largely comes from growth in both private and military segments in the US, as it faces headwinds in the international market.

“I think it is fair to say we crushed Q1 in the US. We are on fire,” said Palantir CEO Alex Karp on Monday’s earnings call.

Palantir’s best-known business is supplying technology to the US government, which grew 12% year-over-year, to $257 million. Its private-sector business is seeing even faster growth. US commercial revenue, which comes from selling software to 262 firms like Cleveland Clinic and General Mills, rose 40% year-over-year to $150 million, per Monday’s earnings.

Palantir is doubling down on the US, including defense and AI, Karp said on Monday’s call.

While the company reported strong US numbers, its international performance dipped compared to the previous quarter because of an accounting move and “continued headwinds in Europe,” chief financial officer Dave Glazer said on Monday’s call.

International commercial revenue for the first quarter was $149 million — down 3% from the prior quarter, but up 16% year-on-year. And international government revenue was down 9% from the prior quarter, to $79 million — though up 33% year-on-year.

About 16% of Palantir’s total business comes from Europe.

“Europe is gliding toward 0% GDP growth over the next couple of years. That is a problem for us. There is no easy remedy for that,” Glazer said.

The software maker’s stock fell over 8% in after-hours trading, but it is up 52% this year as it rides the artificial intelligence wave.

Because of its government work, Palantir has long been a lightning rod for domestic and international political debates.

The company supplies AI models to militaries allied with the US, including Israel and Ukraine. In March, Karp said that employees left the company because of its stance on Israel.

“If you have a position that does not cost you ever to lose an employee, it’s not a position,” he said in March.

Karp addressed the matter in the call as well, saying Palantir is the first call for Western allies in global conflicts.

“The central risk to Palantir and America and the world is a regressive way of thinking that is corrupting and corroding our institutions that calls itself progressive,” he said. “But is actually a form of a thin pagan religion.”

The CEO lashed out at the wave of pro-Palestine student protests occurring at US universities in a conversation with Palantir’s senior policy advisor during a tech conference in Washington, DC last week. He brought the matter up again on the earnings call.

“The greatest institutions of our time disappear and turn into discriminatory dysfunction,” he said on the call.

For the second quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue between $649 and $653 million, close to a $20 million increase from first-quarter revenue.

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