TLDR
- Freedom Capital analyst raised PLTR price target to $230 from $170, implying ~70% upside
- Palantir beat Q1 guidance and Wall Street estimates; management raised full-year 2026 outlook
- Government demand is so strong, Palantir is now prioritizing defense contracts over some commercial deals
- Ukrainian President Zelenskyy met CEO Alex Karp in Kyiv to expand the “Brave1 Dataroom” AI project
- Wall Street’s average PLTR price target sits at $188.31, reflecting 38% upside from current levels
Palantir had a strong Q1, and at least one analyst thinks the rally is far from over. Freedom Capital’s Almas Almaganbetov raised his price target on PLTR to $230 from $170, keeping a Buy rating. That new target implies around 70% upside from where the stock currently trades.
Palantir Technologies Inc., PLTR
The upgrade came after Palantir posted Q1 results that topped both its own guidance and Street expectations. Management followed that up by raising its full-year 2026 outlook across multiple key metrics.
Almaganbetov increased his revenue and adjusted free cash flow estimates for 2026 through 2028 following the report.
Government Demand Is Driving the Business
One of the standout details from Q1 was the strength of Palantir’s government segment. Demand for its national security and defense software has grown to the point where the company is now turning away some commercial deals to keep up with government implementation work.
That’s a striking data point — prioritizing government over commercial isn’t something most software companies do. It signals just how deep Palantir is embedded in defense and intelligence workflows.
The analyst also flagged Palantir’s AIP platform as a continued competitive edge in enterprise AI, even as competition in the space intensifies.
Zelenskyy Meets CEO Karp in Kyiv
The government story got a high-profile moment on May 12, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with CEO Alex Karp in Kyiv. The visit highlighted Ukraine’s expanding use of Palantir’s technology in its war with Russia.
Kyiv is running a joint project with Palantir called “Brave1 Dataroom,” which uses combat data collected since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 to develop AI models. The focus is on detecting and intercepting Russian drones.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said more than 100 companies are now training over 80 models for aerial target detection under the broader program.
Fedorov added that under the Palantir partnership, Ukraine built a system for analyzing air strikes in detail, implemented AI tools for handling large volumes of intelligence data, and integrated those technologies into deep strike planning.
“Palantir is a renowned global company with strong potential, and there certainly are areas where we can be useful to one another,” Zelenskyy wrote on X following the meeting.
Not every analyst is convinced the stock deserves its current price. Some on Wall Street argue the valuation has stretched too far after PLTR’s long run higher. The average price target across Wall Street sits at $188.31, which would still represent 38% upside from current levels — but well below Almaganbetov’s $230 call.
The debate over Palantir’s valuation is unlikely to go away any time soon, but the Q1 results and the Kyiv meeting gave bulls fresh material to work with.
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