Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

The NOPAT shows a significant improvement over the five-year period. It started with a substantial negative value of approximately -1.19 million US dollars in 2020, which decreased in magnitude each subsequent year until turning positive in 2023 with 207,040 thousand US dollars, and further increasing to 339,176 thousand US dollars in 2024. This trend indicates a strong recovery and improvement in operating profitability after taxes.

Cost of Capital

The cost of capital remained relatively stable throughout the period, fluctuating slightly within a narrow range from 33.42% to 33.79%. This stability suggests consistent financing costs and risk expectations by investors during these years.

Invested Capital

Invested capital generally increased from approximately 2.18 million US dollars in 2020 to a peak of about 3.07 million US dollars in 2022. However, there was a significant decline in 2023 to around 1.24 million US dollars, followed by a recovery to approximately 2.51 million US dollars in 2024. This pattern implies possible substantial divestments or asset reallocation in 2023 with a rebound in investment levels the following year.

Economic Profit

Economic profit exhibited a persistent negative trend, indicating that the company consistently failed to generate returns above its cost of capital. Despite an overall improvement from a deep negative value of nearly -1.92 million US dollars in 2020, the economic profit remained negative across all years, with a notable reduction in losses by 2023 and variable negative amounts in subsequent years. This highlights that, although operational profitability improved, the company still struggled to create value beyond its capital costs.

Summary

The financial data reveals a marked turnaround in operational profitability, as shown by the positive shift in NOPAT starting in 2023. The cost of capital remained stable, indicating no significant changes in investor risk assessment. Invested capital presented volatility, especially with a sharp decline in 2023, suggesting possible strategic adjustments in asset management. Despite these operational improvements, economic profit remained negative, reflecting ongoing challenges in generating returns exceeding the cost of capital. Overall, these patterns suggest increased operational efficiency and profitability alongside a need to focus on maximizing capital use to achieve economic value creation.

The financial data reveals a significant improvement in profitability over the analyzed period.

Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Common Stockholders

A substantial negative net income was reported in 2020, amounting to approximately -1.17 billion US dollars. This loss decreased markedly in 2021 and 2022 to approximately -520 million and -374 million US dollars, respectively. In 2023, the company reversed its financial position with a positive net income of around 210 million US dollars, followed by further growth to approximately 462 million US dollars in 2024. This trend indicates a successful transition from significant losses to sustained profitability.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

Consistent with net income trends, NOPAT was markedly negative in 2020 (-1.19 billion US dollars), improving progressively to roughly -378 million in 2021 and -221 million in 2022. From 2023 onward, NOPAT turned positive, reaching about 207 million US dollars and expanding further to approximately 339 million US dollars in 2024. This reflects enhanced operational efficiency and effective tax management contributing to profitability.

Overall, the data demonstrates a clear and robust upward trajectory in both net income and operating profitability. The shift from pronounced losses to solid gains signals improved operational performance and potential stabilization of the company's financial health.

The financial data reveals notable fluctuations in both the provision for income taxes and cash operating taxes over the five-year period examined.

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

Initially, there was a tax benefit of -$12,636 thousand in 2020. This shifted to a tax provision of $31,885 thousand in 2021, indicating a significant increase in tax expenses. In the following years, the provision decreased to $10,067 thousand in 2022, then rose again to $19,716 thousand in 2023, and slightly increased to $21,255 thousand in 2024. Overall, the provision for income taxes shows variability, with the initial tax benefit transitioning to recurring tax expenses that fluctuate but generally trend at a moderate level after 2021.

Cash operating taxes

Cash operating taxes experienced substantial variation across the period. The value was $13,182 thousand in 2020 and decreased to $7,577 thousand in 2021, showing a reduction in actual cash tax payments. However, there was a dramatic surge to $67,243 thousand in 2022, representing a significant cash outflow for taxes. This was followed by a sharp decrease to $1,246 thousand in 2023 and a negative outflow of -$15,989 thousand in 2024, indicating tax refunds or credits exceeding taxes paid. This irregular pattern suggests variability in the company's taxable income, tax planning strategies, or changes in tax regulations impacting cash taxes paid over time.

In summary, the data indicates a transition from tax benefits to taxable obligations in terms of accounting provision, with visible volatility year-over-year. The cash operating taxes display extreme fluctuations with a peak in 2022 and subsequent negative cash taxes in 2024, signaling potentially significant tax recoveries or adjustments in that year. This combination reflects an unstable tax environment or operational variability affecting the company's tax position during this period.

Total Reported Debt & Leases

There is a clear downward trend in total reported debt and leases from 2020 through 2023, decreasing from approximately 457 million USD to about 229 million USD. This represents a nearly 50% reduction over four years. In 2024, however, the debt level shows a slight increase to approximately 239 million USD, indicating a potential shift in capital structure or financing strategy.

Total Palantir’s Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity has exhibited consistent and strong growth over the five-year period. Starting at around 1.52 billion USD in 2020, it increased steadily each year, reaching 5.00 billion USD by 2024. This trend suggests substantial value creation and effective retention of earnings or capital infusion, reflecting robust financial health and increased shareholder wealth.

Invested Capital

Invested capital generally increased from 2020 to 2022, rising from approximately 2.18 billion USD to about 3.07 billion USD, indicating growing deployment of resources in the business. However, there is a notable and sharp decline in 2023 to approximately 1.24 billion USD, followed by a recovery to 2.51 billion USD in 2024. The 2023 dip could signify asset disposals, restructuring, or a strategic shift in investment focus, with a partial rebound in the following year.

Economic Profit

Economic profit exhibits a trend of gradual improvement from a substantial negative value of approximately -1.92 billion in 2020 to a significantly lower negative value of about -0.21 billion in 2023. However, in 2024, it increases slightly in negative magnitude to -0.51 billion, indicating a minor setback in economic profitability after a period of consistent recovery.

Invested Capital

The invested capital shows a generally upward trend from 2.18 billion in 2020 to a peak of around 3.07 billion in 2022. Following this peak, there is a sharp decrease to approximately 1.24 billion in 2023, which is the lowest point within the observed timeframe. This is followed by a recovery to about 2.51 billion in 2024, signifying potential changes in investment strategy or capital deployment.

Economic Spread Ratio

The economic spread ratio, a measure of the return over the cost of capital, maintains negative values throughout the period, reflecting returns below the cost of invested capital. The ratio improves from -88.11% in 2020 to -16.96% by 2023, indicating an improving efficiency in capital usage. Nevertheless, in 2024, the ratio deteriorates marginally to -20.26%, suggesting a slight decline in economic value generation relative to previous year improvements.

The annual financial data for Palantir Technologies Inc. reveals several key trends over the five-year period ending in 2024.

Adjusted Revenue

The company has demonstrated a consistent and robust increase in adjusted revenue throughout the period. Starting from approximately $1.07 billion in 2020, revenue grew to about $1.57 billion in 2021, representing significant year-over-year growth. This upward trend continued with revenues reaching $1.83 billion in 2022, $2.31 billion in 2023, and further increasing to approximately $2.89 billion in 2024. The steady growth in adjusted revenue indicates strengthening sales or service income streams.

Economic Profit

Despite revenue growth, economic profit figures present a different picture. Economic profit was deeply negative in 2020 at nearly -$1.92 billion and improved substantially by 2021 to approximately -$1.24 billion. However, it remained fairly stable with a slight further decline to around -$1.25 billion in 2022. A considerable improvement occurred in 2023 when economic profit rose sharply to a loss of about -$210 million. Nevertheless, the figure worsened again in 2024 to around -$508 million. This pattern suggests ongoing challenges in generating economic profitability despite revenue gains, with some volatility in the improvement path.

Economic Profit Margin

The economic profit margin, which relates economic profit to revenue, has shown a marked reduction in negative magnitude over the years. Starting with an extremely negative margin of approximately -179.48% in 2020, it improved significantly to -79.24% in 2021, and then to -68.15% in 2022. The margin further contracted impressively to -9.1% in 2023, signaling tighter losses relative to revenue. However, in 2024, the margin deteriorated again to -17.58%. This trend reflects efforts toward better operational efficiency or cost management, though challenges remain to achieve positive profitability ratios.

In summary, the data depicts a company that has achieved strong revenue growth over the analyzed timeframe but continues to operate with a negative economic profit. Although there has been notable progress in reducing losses relative to revenue, as shown by improved economic profit margins, occasional setbacks indicate persistent challenges in fully converting revenue growth into sustainable profitability.