Why Palantir Is Soaring While Big Tech Tanks

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) bucked a broader market downturn last week, rallying sharply as geopolitical tensions and policy shifts pressured many technology and semiconductor stocks.

Palantir Rallies As Markets Slide

Palantir stood out during a difficult week for equities. Its shares climbed 15% between February 27 and March 6 following the U.S. attack on Iran.

Meanwhile, the broader market struggled. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index fell 1.3% for the week. Large technology and semiconductor stocks weighed on the index, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU).

At the same time, rising oil prices and a report showing the U.S. economy unexpectedly lost jobs in February added pressure to major indexes.

Geopolitical tensions also raised concerns about semiconductor supply chains. The Middle East conflict linked to the U.S.–Israel confrontation with Iran could disrupt key materials such as helium, which chipmakers use for heat management during production.

In addition, industry officials warned the conflict may slow artificial intelligence data-center expansion in the region. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) said drone strikes damaged some of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Analysts See Upside For Palantir

Investors rotated into Palantir as tensions escalated. The company generates about 60% of its revenue from government spending and continues to expand its work with military and intelligence agencies.

Rosenblatt maintained a Buy rating on Palantir and raised its price forecast to $200 from $150, citing potential upside as tensions rise in the Middle East.

Analyst John McPeake said Palantir's strong defense positioning supports the higher forecast. He added that the U.S. government's phaseout of Anthropic's large language models could benefit Palantir, since the company supports multiple alternative AI models.

McPeake also projected Palantir shares could reach $255 in three years and $393 in five years, driven by accelerating growth.

Pentagon Anthropic Decision

The Defense Department recently designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk. As a result, the agency excluded the company's technology from government contracts after both sides failed to agree on how its AI models could be used for autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance.

Anthropic said it plans to challenge the decision in court.

CEO Alex Karp Issues Warning To Silicon Valley

Recently, Palantir CEO Alex Karp issued a blunt warning to Silicon Valley. He said sidelining the U.S. military while replacing white-collar jobs with AI could backfire.

Speaking at the a16z American Dynamism Summit, Karp warned that such a strategy could provoke government intervention—or even the nationalization of key technologies.

PLTR Price Action: Palantir Technologies shares were down 1.36% at $155.02 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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