Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) and Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) are two of the most expensive ways to bet on enterprise AI. Palantir trades near 45 times forward sales and roughly 130 times free cash flow, while Snowflake trades around 16 times forward sales and about 99 times free cash flow. Neither stock gives investors much room for mediocre execution.
That is why the comparison should start with what each premium buys. Palantir's recent $127 million Army order sharpened the question of whether its valuation has finally outrun even excellent execution, while Snowflake's recent earnings showed how quickly AI consumption can change the market's view of a data-platform stock.
Palantir is growing fast enough to make absurd multiples debatable
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)'s second-quarter revenue rose 93% to $1.94 billion. U.S. commercial revenue jumped 149% to $764 million, adjusted operating margin reached 62%, and adjusted free cash flow was $1.22 billion, equal to 63% of revenue. Few software companies combine that growth rate with that level of cash conversion. The challenge is sustaining those margins as Palantir expands beyond its highest-value deployments ...