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Palantir Stock Faces Technical Pressure Despite Strong AI Growth
Written by Chris Markoch. Date Posted: 6/1/2026.
Key Points
- Palantir continues posting strong revenue growth and industry-leading margins despite stock volatility.
- Wall Street remains divided between bullish AI expectations and concerns about valuation.
- Technical indicators suggest PLTR may face additional near-term pressure before a sustained breakout.
- Special Report: Elon Musk: This Could Turn $100 into $100,000
Another week for Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) can be summed up as the more things change, the more they stay the same. PLTR is down 12% in 2026, and many retail investors, if the online chatter is any indication, are bailing on the stock.
Palantir was once a rebellious stock that refused to grow into its valuation over the last two years. It’s starting to do that, and now some investors are convinced the stock’s best days are behind it. Well, if you define best days as 10x returns, that may be true.
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Get the SpaceX infrastructure stock name and ticker hereBut the company investors are buying now has performance that supports a long-term bull case. If that’s the case, then buying the stock at these levels may be a gift that won’t be fully appreciated for several years.
Cantor Fitzgerald Delivers a Backhanded Compliment
Palantir got a quiet but meaningful vote of confidence on May 22, when Cantor Fitzgerald hosted CFO David Glazer and Chief Architect Akshay Krishnaswamy for an investor meeting.
Cantor came away incrementally more bullish on Palantir's positioning to benefit from secular AI growth trends in both U.S. Commercial and Government markets. The firm noted that Palantir continues to gain traction as a leading ontology and orchestration layer for enterprise AI, using large language models (LLMs) and the company's unique FDE (Federated Data Environment) go-to-market motion to create a deterministic, continuously updating data analytics system that governs enterprise operations.
Palantir's ontology acts as a real-time digital twin, integrating operational data, workflows, security, APIs, and human inputs to ground AI-driven decisions and agentic workflows in an enterprise context.
The firm pointed to Palantir's 84% gross margin and 68% revenue growth over the past 12 months. And yet, Cantor kept its Neutral rating and $138 price target because the stock looks expensive.
This is notably conservative compared with peers. Other firms, including Citigroup and Rosenblatt, recently raised their targets to $225 following Palantir's strong Q1 results, with earnings per share of 33 cents on $1.633 billion in revenue, both topping estimates.
It would seem that Cantor is more impressed with Palantir's AI platform story than before, but the valuation gap between its $138 target and the bull camp's $225–$230 targets reflects a real divide on Wall Street over how much to pay for that growth.
The Chart Tells a Cautious Story
For investors who follow price action, PLTR's chart adds another layer of complexity to an already nuanced fundamental picture. After peaking near $210 in mid-November 2025, the stock collapsed sharply to a low around $120 by late January—a steep decline that created what technical analysts call a "flagpole." Since then, PLTR has slowly ground higher in a choppy, narrow range between roughly $125 and $145, a consolidation that has now stretched for nearly three months.
That pattern has the look of a bear flag, one of the more reliable bearish continuation setups in technical analysis. The structure forms when a sharp decline is followed by a slow, low-conviction drift higher before sellers re-engage and push the stock to new lows. The longer the flag flies without a breakout to the upside, the more it tends to favor the bears.
Wednesday's session was telling: the stock tagged an intraday high of $135.73 before sellers stepped in hard, pushing it back down to close at $132.51, a loss of nearly 3% on the day. That kind of rejection near resistance is exactly the type of price action bears watch for.
The key support level to monitor is around $130, which corresponds to a horizontal zone that has held multiple times over recent months. A decisive close below that level would technically confirm the bear flag breakdown and open the door to a retest of the February lows near $120. On the upside, the $135 to $138 zone represents both near-term chart resistance and, notably, the exact price target Cantor Fitzgerald assigned this week—a level that may prove easier to defend in analyst models than on a candlestick chart.
None of this means the bull case is broken. Fundamentally, Palantir remains one of the more compelling AI infrastructure stories in the market. But for investors eyeing an entry, the chart suggests patience may be rewarded. A clean hold of $130 and a reclaim of $140 would go a long way toward neutralizing the bearish technical setup and giving the long-term thesis room to breathe.
Don’t Pass on PLTR Without Knowing Why
Palantir is not a stock for investors looking for excitement or a quick win. The days of triple-digit annual returns are almost certainly in the rearview mirror, and anyone expecting that kind of ride again is likely to be disappointed.
What remains is something arguably more valuable: a company with a defensible AI platform, expanding margins, and a growing footprint in both government and enterprise markets. The stock is cheaper than it was six months ago, but it is still not cheap by conventional measures, and the chart suggests the path of least resistance may still be lower before it is higher.
For patient, long-term investors willing to look past near-term volatility and a valuation that will never satisfy the skeptics, current levels could look like a reasonable entry point in hindsight. For everyone else, there are flashier trades out there. But don’t be surprised if PLTR quietly compounds while you are chasing them.
Block’s Pivot to Profits and AI Is Turning Heads
Authored by Peter Frank. Article Posted: 5/20/2026.
Key Points
- Block delivered strong profit growth in its most recent quarter and exceeded key performance expectations.
- Cash App continued to drive momentum, while Square added stability.
- AI initiatives and restructuring could fuel gains but also introduce risks.
- Special Report: Elon Musk: This Could Turn $100 into $100,000
Block (NYSE: XYZ), the company behind Square and Cash App, delivered a much stronger quarter than expected, raised full-year guidance, and showed that its aggressive restructuring may already be paying off.
By the most visible metrics, the company outperformed in the first three months of the year, and both growth and profitability moved sharply in the right direction.
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Get the SpaceX infrastructure stock name and ticker hereIn fact, Block is now firmly hitting the Rule of 40, a closely watched measure for growth-stage tech companies.
Investors, however, still have reason to be cautious. The stock is already pricing in a good deal of near-term success.
The question is how much room remains if the company's pivots continue to pay off.
Block Delivers Strong Growth and Profitability
By many measures, Block’s first quarter was outstanding. The company’s gross profit rose 27% year over year (YOY) to $2.91 billion. At the same time, it generated $728 million in adjusted operating income, representing a 25% margin on gross profit. The sum of those two percentage gains exceeds 40, putting Block well beyond the industry “rule.” In other words, growth in the revenue it keeps and the efficiency with which it turns that revenue into income are both improving at admirable rates.
Overall, revenue for the quarter came in at $6.06 billion, up 5% YOY. And as the numbers showed, those revenues are flowing through to the bottom line. Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 52% to 85 cents, well ahead of the company’s own internal guidance. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in at a record $1 billion for the quarter. On the surface, these numbers were nothing short of solid.
Cash App Leads While Square Provides Stability
Block is powered by two distinct but complementary businesses. On one side is Cash App, the consumer-facing mobile platform that lets millions of Americans send money, invest in stocks, buy Bitcoin, and access basic banking services. On the other is Square, the merchant-services platform that helps small and mid-sized businesses accept payments, manage inventory, and run payroll.
In the first three months of the year, Cash App was the standout. Its gross profit jumped 38% YOY to $1.91 billion, or about two-thirds of the total, fueled by deeper engagement with financial-services products like the Cash App Card and banking features.
Square was solid, growing at a steadier 9% pace to a $982 million profit. The combination of a growing consumer arm and a stable merchant business is what gives Block its long-term appeal.
In light of the results, the company lifted its full-year 2026 targets to 19% gross profit growth, $12.33 billion in total gross profit, $3.34 billion of adjusted operating income, and 62% adjusted earnings per share growth. Embedded in that guidance is Block’s strategic bet on artificial intelligence, which it says will improve personalization, sharpen risk management, and uncover new revenue opportunities.
Restructuring and AI Bring New Risks
There is a footnote worth knowing, though. On a stricter accounting basis, Block reported a GAAP net loss attributable to stockholders of $309 million and a GAAP operating loss of $172 million. Its unadjusted net loss came to 52 cents per share.
That gap between the glowing adjusted numbers and the unadjusted losses stemmed primarily from $852 million in restructuring costs and other one-time expenses. More than half of the charges came after a dramatic announcement in February from Jack Dorsey, Block’s chairman, co-founder, and Block Head, as the company calls him. Dorsey said Block would lay off 40% of its workforce as it shifted work to artificial intelligence. The company explained in early April that 100% of Block employees were now using AI tools to do their work.
As part of that quarterly charge, the company also disclosed that it was setting aside $240 million in reserves in light of an ongoing Department of Justice probe into Cash App’s compliance and governance practices.
Wall Street Likes the Story But Has Concerns
All this news sent the stock higher. Block’s shares are about 20% above year-ago levels, which was before it joined the S&P 500, but only up around 7% year to date. The impressive quarterly results triggered an immediate 10% jump in the stock price, but investors still raised concerns about a few areas.
The $6.06 billion in revenue, while up 5%, missed even higher expectations. The unadjusted GAAP loss understandably unnerved some investors, and the reserve for a possible DOJ settlement also weighed on sentiment.
Analysts who cover Block are broadly optimistic but measured. The consensus rating is a Moderate Buy, with 30 analysts recommending the stock as a Buy, six calling it a Hold, and only one suggesting Sell. The average 12-month price target sits at $84.94, implying about 20% upside from a recent trading price near $70. The most bullish target among the forecasts reaches $100.
Competition and Valuation Still Matter
Given its performance, Block has plenty of reason to attract enthusiasm. But it also faces meaningful risks. The company operates in a fiercely competitive landscape. Cash App faces well-funded rivals, including Venmo by PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), as well as Chime (NASDAQ: CHYM) and SoFi (NASDAQ: SOFI) on the neobank side. Square competes against traditional bank-owned merchant services and other merchant platforms, including Clover by Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV), Toast (NYSE: TOST), and the point-of-sale offering from Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP).
There is also the question of regulatory exposure. Cash App’s Bitcoin trading and newer financial-services features operate in an environment that could shift unpredictably. And the company’s GAAP losses, however explainable, leave it vulnerable if investor attention shifts.
The valuation itself is not necessarily cheap. Block trades at a meaningful premium to conventional payment processors. That premium is defensible as long as gross profit continues to climb, but it could leave little margin for error if growth slows.
In the meantime, though, Block is certainly worth a penciled-in spot on the buy list for growth-oriented investors. Just know the risks, watch the numbers, and don’t send all your cash.
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