William Blair upgraded PLTR to "market perform" from "underperform"
Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR) are up 2.1% in premarket trading, after an upgrade at William Blair to "market perform" from "underperform." The brokerage cited "positive developments" for the data analytics stock since a selloff in connection to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) layoffs.
There's plenty of room for other analysts to strike a bullish tone. Coming into today, 16 of the 19 firms in question called the equity a tepid "hold" or worse. Short sellers are building their positions, too, with short interest rising 13.3% over the most recent reporting period.
The security is fresh off its worst weekly performance since 2021, with a series of bear gaps knocking it off a Feb. 19, record high of $125.41. However, PLTR weathered yesterday's tariff-driven storm, settling higher despite investors rotating out of the tech sector and into cyclical plays. A floor appears to have emerged at the $80 level, however, and PLTR still sports a 281.9% nine-month lead.
A shift in sentiment could fuel additional tailwinds, per the security's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than 97% of all annuals readings.
Options look like a solid route, too. PLTR typically outperformed options traders' volatility expectations in the last year, per its Schaeffer’s Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 84 out of 100.