Skip to content
    PLTR
    Earnings call· Mar 2025(Q1 FY25)

    Palantir Technologies Q1 FY25 earnings call PLTR

    May 5, 2025 Source

    Executive summary

    Palantir Q1 FY25 — Strong U.S. Growth and AI Demand Drive Outperformance

    Palantir delivered an exceptional Q1 FY25, significantly outperforming expectations driven by robust demand for its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) across its U.S. Commercial and Government segments. The company's focus on enterprise autonomy and AI agents is translating into rapid customer adoption and expansion, particularly in the U.S. While international commercial faced headwinds, management remains confident in its strategy to leverage its unique Ontology and execution capabilities to drive continued growth and profitability, especially in critical and high-pressure environments.

    Highlights

    6
    • Total revenue grew 39% year-over-year to $884 million, exceeding the high end of prior guidance by nearly 350 basis points.

    • U.S. revenue grew 55% year-over-year to $628 million, driven by strong AIP demand.

    • U.S. Commercial revenue surged 71% year-over-year to $255 million, surpassing a $1 billion annual run rate.

    • Adjusted operating margin was 44%, representing an 800 basis point increase compared to the first quarter of last year.

    • The Rule of 40 score increased to 83, marking the 7th consecutive quarter of expansion.

    • Adjusted free cash flow was $370 million, representing a 42% margin.

    Concerns

    2
    • International Commercial revenue declined 5% year-over-year and 11% sequentially to $141 million, due to continued headwinds in Europe and a prior Q4 2024 revenue catch-up.

    • Increased expense is expected in 2025 due to continued investments in technical talent, product pipeline, and AI production use cases.

    Guidance & targets

    7
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    Revenue
    $934 million and $938 million
    high materiality
    High
    Adjusted Income from Operations
    $401 million and $405 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Full Year Revenue
    $3.89 billion and $3.902 billion
    high materiality
    High
    Full Year U.S. Commercial Revenue
    excess of $1.178 billion, representing a growth rate of at least 68%
    high materiality
    High
    Full Year Adjusted Income from Operations
    $1.711 billion and $1.723 billion
    high materiality
    High
    Full Year Adjusted Free Cash Flow
    $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion
    high materiality
    High
    GAAP Operating Income and Net Income
    expected in each quarter of this year
    medium materiality
    High

    Segment performance

    11
    SegmentRevenueYoYQoQMargin
    Total Company
    Exceeded high end of prior guidance by nearly 350 basis points, 1,800 basis point increase compared to Q1 last year.
    $884 million39%7%
    U.S. Total
    Continued increase in demand for AIP drove outperformance.
    % of overall business: 71%
    $628 million55%13%
    U.S. Commercial
    Extraordinary momentum continued, strongest quarter of U.S. commercial TCV booked.
    Annual run rate: >$1 billion
    $255 million71%19%
    U.S. Commercial (excluding strategic commercial contracts)
    Growth excluding impact from strategic commercial contracts.
    75%22%
    U.S. Government
    Achieved compelling revenue growth, driven by continued execution in existing programs and new awards.
    $373 million45%9%
    Commercial Total
    Strong performance driven by AIP demand.
    $397 million33%7%
    Commercial Total (excluding strategic commercial contracts)
    Growth excluding impact from strategic commercial contracts.
    42%8%
    International Commercial
    Decline driven by continued headwinds in Europe and one-time revenue catch-up in Q4 2024. Capitalizing on targeted growth in Asia, Middle East.
    $141 million-5%-11%
    Government Total
    Growth driven by demand for AI in government software offerings.
    $487 million45%7%
    International Government
    Bolstered by continued work in U.K. healthcare and defense, and new partnership with NATO.
    $114 million45%2%
    Ex-Continental Europe
    90% of business outside of Europe grew 49%.
    49%

    Operational metrics

    17
    Non-GAAP operating margin
    44%up 800 bps YoY
    Q1 FY25

    Adjusted operating margin, excluding stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes.

    Free cash flow margin
    42%
    Q1 FY25

    Adjusted free cash flow of $370 million.

    Customer count
    769up 39% YoY, up 8% sequentially
    Q1 FY25

    Total customer count.

    Customer count
    432up 65% YoY, up 13% sequentially
    Q1 FY25

    U.S. Commercial customer count.

    Trailing 12-month revenue from top 20 customers
    $70 millionup 26% YoY
    Q1 FY25 (TTM)

    Per customer.

    Strategic Commercial Contracts Revenue
    $5.1 million
    Q1 FY25

    Revenue from strategic commercial contracts.

    Non-GAAP gross margin
    82%
    Q1 FY25

    Excludes stock-based compensation expense.

    Operating expenses (Non-GAAP)
    $493 millionup 8% sequentially, up 21% YoY
    Q1 FY25

    Primarily driven by continued investment in AIP and technical hiring.

    Operating income (GAAP)
    $176 million
    Q1 FY25

    First quarter GAAP operating income.

    Net income (GAAP)
    $214 million
    Q1 FY25

    First quarter GAAP net income.

    Stock-based compensation
    $155 million
    Q1 FY25

    First quarter stock-based compensation expense.

    Employee-related equity tax expense
    $59 million
    Q1 FY25

    First quarter employee-related equity tax expense.

    EPS (GAAP)
    $0.08
    Q1 FY25

    First quarter GAAP earnings per share.

    Non-GAAP EPS
    $0.13
    Q1 FY25

    First quarter adjusted earnings per share.

    Cash and investments balance
    $5.4 billion
    Q1 FY25

    Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term U.S. Treasury securities.

    Share buyback
    2.3 million
    Q1 FY25

    Approximately 2.3 million shares repurchased as part of the share repurchase program.

    Share buyback authorization remaining
    $918 million
    Q1 FY25

    Remaining authorization from the original share repurchase program.

    Industry KPIs

    8
    MetricValueDetails
    Revenue growth$884 millionUSD
    Rpo current rpo$1.9 billionUSD
    Bookings billings$930 millionUSD
    Customer account count769customers
    Large deal new logo metricstwice as manydeals
    Operating FCF margin rule of 4083score
    Ai product adoption monetization
    Net revenue net dollar retention124%%

    Orderbook & backlog

    7
    U.S. Commercial TCV Bookings$810 millionQ1 FY25

    up 183% YoY

    On a dollar-weighted duration basis, closed twice as many deals of $1 million or more compared to the same time period a year ago.

    Commercial TCV Bookings$930 millionQ1 FY25

    up 84% YoY

    Trailing 12-Month U.S. Commercial TCV Bookingsover $2 billionQ1 FY25 (TTM)

    Highlighting demand for AI production use cases.

    Total Remaining Deal Value$5.97 billionQ1 FY25

    up 45% YoY, up 10% sequentially

    Company-wide total remaining deal value.

    U.S. Commercial Total Remaining Deal ValuenullQ1 FY25

    up 127% YoY, up 30% sequentially

    Growth rate for U.S. Commercial total remaining deal value. Absolute value not stated.

    Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)$1.9 billionQ1 FY25

    up 46% YoY, up 10% sequentially

    Primarily comprised of commercial business; does not include contracts <12 months or beyond termination for convenience clauses common in government business.

    Government TCV Booked$1.5 billionQ1 FY25

    up 66% YoY

    Product announcements

    2
    ProductTypeDetails
    Maven Smart Systemexpansion
    TITAN vehiclesmilestone

    Deals & partnerships

    2
    R1 RCMDevelop intelligent automation solutions for healthcare reimbursement.

    Partnering to create faster, more precise healthcare reimbursement outcomes.

    NATOProvide Palantir Maven Smart System for AI Mission Command.

    Closed a deal to deploy Maven Smart System across NATO's 32 member states as its C2 operating system.

    Risks & headwinds

    3
    Continued headwinds in EuropeQ1 FY25

    International commercial revenue declined 5% YoY and 11% sequentially to $141 million.

    Mitigation: Capitalizing on targeted growth opportunities in Asia, the Middle East and beyond; focused on accelerating growth in U.S. business.

    Significant increase in expense in 2025FY25

    Q1 adjusted expense was $493 million, up 8% sequentially and 21% year-over-year.

    Mitigation: Investment in the most elite technical talent, product pipeline, and AI production use cases, all delivering on goals of sustained GAAP profitability.

    U.S. administration's focus on reducing federal spend and DoD budget cutsOngoing

    Potential impact on current contracts as well as future contract acquisition.

    Mitigation: Palantir thrives under pressure and meritocracy; its software delivers actual value, which should lead to gaining share in budgets as ineffective projects are cut. Management views this as 'the right thing for the country'.

    What to watch in Q2 FY25

    5

    International Commercial Revenue Growth

    next quarter
    Current-5% YoY, -11% QoQ
    TargetStabilization or return to growth

    Why it matters

    To assess if headwinds in Europe persist or if targeted growth in other regions can offset the decline.

    First quarter international commercial revenue declined 5% year-over-year and 11% sequentially to $141 million. The decline was driven by continued headwinds in Europe and by the onetime revenue catch-up📎 in the fourth quarter of 2024 that we noted on last quarter's call.

    Q&A highlights

    4

    How does Palantir plan to sustain its competitive advantage in AI given growing competition?

    Shyam Sankar stated that Palantir's advantage lies in its Ontology, which positions AIP to capture LLM capabilities and translate them into business value. He highlighted AIP as a "tool factory" for orchestrating models and enabling mixed human-AI teams, which is critical for enterprise transformation.

    Our advantage comes down to Ontology. It's really an advantage on the AI demand side. And that has positioned AIP to be the platform that is able to capture the ever-expanding capability of the raw LLMs and turn that into business value.

    asked by Gabriel · answered by Shyam Sankar

    3 min read6 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    AI Platform (AIP) Driving Enterprise Autonomy

    Palantir's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) has entered a new phase focused on enterprise autonomy, enabling customers to build and deploy AI agents for significant productivity gains, potentially 50x compared to 50% for copilots. These agents leverage Palantir's Ontology to translate the expanding capabilities of large language models (LLMs) into tangible business outcomes. This transformation is impacting various sectors, from supply chain optimization to defense intelligence and healthcare, proving AIP to be a critical tool for enterprise-wide automation.

    02

    U.S. Market Dominance and Growth Momentum

    Palantir continues to demonstrate preeminence in the U.S. market, with overall U.S. revenue growing 55% year-over-year to $628 million. The U.S. Commercial segment showed extraordinary momentum, with revenue surging 71% year-over-year to $255 million and surpassing a $1 billion annual run rate for the first time. This robust growth is fueled by rapid customer conversions and expansions, evidenced by $810 million in U.S. commercial TCV bookings and a doubling of deals valued at $1 million or more compared to the prior year.

    03

    Government Business Strength and Strategic Impact

    The U.S. government business achieved impressive 45% year-over-year growth, driven by effective execution in existing programs and new awards, reflecting high demand for AI in government software offerings. Key achievements include the on-time and on-budget delivery of the first TITAN vehicles to the U.S. Army, which rated the program as top-performing. Additionally, NATO adopted the Maven Smart System as its C2 operating system, deploying AI Mission Command solutions across its 32 member states, highlighting the critical impact of Palantir's battle-hardened products in vital missions.

    04

    Rule of 40 Outperformance and Profitability Commitment

    Palantir's financial performance continues to redefine the Rule of 40, with its score increasing to 83 in Q1 FY25, a 2-point sequential rise and its seventh consecutive quarter of expansion. This demonstrates a strong balance of revenue growth and high adjusted operating margins, which reached 44%. The company is committed to sustained GAAP profitability, with management expecting positive GAAP operating income and net income in every quarter of fiscal year 2025, reinforcing its focus on quality revenue and efficient operations.

    05

    Cultural Shift and Competitive Moat

    Management attributes current success to two decades of investment and a significant cultural shift in the U.S., where organizations increasingly recognize the value of Palantir's software. The company thrives under pressure, as its products are designed to deliver demonstrable value and address critical challenges, creating a competitive moat. Palantir's 'warrior culture' and opinionated approach to software implementation are highlighted as key differentiators, enabling it to succeed in environments demanding meritocracy and effective, ethical solutions, particularly in government and critical infrastructure.

    06

    International Headwinds and Targeted Growth

    While the U.S. business is experiencing rapid growth, international commercial revenue declined 5% year-over-year due to persistent headwinds in Europe and a one-time📎 revenue catch-up📎 in the previous quarter. Despite these challenges, Palantir is actively pursuing targeted growth opportunities in regions like Asia and the Middle East. Management also noted strong demand for its government software globally outside of Europe, indicating potential for future international expansion beyond current European market difficulties.

    AI-generated summary of the company’s earnings call. Not investment advice.