The Palantir Q1 2026 earnings print landed on May 4 after the close. Revenue grew 85% year over year. That is the fastest top-line growth Palantir has posted since 2020.
The headline numbers cleared the Street comfortably. Revenue came in at $1.63B versus a $1.54B estimate. Adjusted EPS hit $0.33 against a $0.28 consensus.
Management also raised the full-year guide to $7.65B to $7.66B. That implies 71% YoY growth and sits well above the $7.27B LSEG consensus.
Q1 by the Numbers
This was a beat on every line that matters. The growth rate is the standout, since most large-cap software companies are growing at a fraction of this pace.
Revenue and EPS detail
Total Q1 revenue reached $1.63B. That is a $90M beat versus the $1.54B Street estimate.
Adjusted EPS of $0.33 cleared the $0.28 consensus by five cents. GAAP EPS came in at $0.34, up from just $0.08 a year earlier.
Net income hit $870.5M, roughly four times the $214M reported in the year-ago quarter. That kind of operating leverage is rare at this growth rate.
Segment mix
US Government revenue grew 84% YoY to $687M. That is an acceleration from 66% growth in Q4 2025, which matters for the durability of the print.
US Commercial revenue grew 133% YoY to $595M. The segment did miss the StreetAccount $605M consensus by $10M, the one soft spot in the report.
Total commercial customers reached 1,007 on a trailing basis, up 31% YoY. Customer count is the leading indicator we watch most closely for AIP traction.
The Government acceleration is the line that should reframe the bull case. Government deals are sticky, multi-year, and structurally less cyclical than commercial sales.
Margin and Cash Profile
Profitability scaled with the top line in Q1. Margins expanded across both GAAP and adjusted measures, which signals real operating discipline.
GAAP profitability
Net income of $870.5M translated to a 53% net margin. That is unusually high for any software company, let alone one growing 85%.
The print landed in beat-and-raise territory across revenue, EPS, and forward guide. We have written before about why this combination tends to drive a multi-week drift higher in post-earnings beat-and-raise setups.
Customer concentration check
The 1,007 commercial customer base is small relative to peers like Microsoft or Salesforce. That is a structural risk Palantir bulls have to underwrite.
Each lost government contract or large commercial deal moves the revenue line meaningfully. Concentration is the trade-off for the high-margin, high-touch deal model.
Forward Signals from the Print
The Q1 release surfaced three signals worth tracking into the rest of 2026. None are conclusive on their own, but together they shape the bull case.
Signal one: deal velocity
Palantir announced new deals with Airbus, Bain, GE Aerospace, and Stellantis in Q1. These are large, brand-name accounts across aerospace, consulting, and autos.
Deal velocity is the cleanest read on whether AIP is winning new logos. Four marquee names in one quarter is a strong signal.
Signal two: Q2 guide
Q2 revenue guidance of $1.8B sits well above the $1.68B consensus. That is a $120M raise on the next quarter alone.
Forward guides above consensus tend to anchor analyst models higher. Expect upward revisions on FY 2027 numbers in the next two weeks.
The pattern of beat, raise, and an above-consensus next-quarter guide is the cleanest setup for post-earnings drift. Quality compounders with this profile often grind higher for weeks.
Signal three: government re-acceleration
The 84% US Government growth rate, accelerating from 66%, is the most underappreciated line in the release. Government work is sticky and multi-year.
If government growth holds above 70% through Q3, the durability case for the multiple gets much stronger. That is the line we will watch.
How This Compares to AI Software Peers
Most AI software peers are not growing anywhere close to 85%. Palantir sits in a small group of names compounding at this pace.
Growth versus the cohort
Names like ServiceNow and Salesforce are growing in the high teens to low 20s. Even Nvidia data-center revenue, while massive in absolute terms, is decelerating off peak comps.
Palantir is one of the few software stories where growth is accelerating, not decelerating, against tougher comps. We covered this dynamic in our broader piece on AI software stocks beyond Nvidia.
Valuation reality check
The stock trades at a premium multiple even after the print, according to Yahoo Finance. That premium is the market pricing in continued execution.
The risk is binary. Any deceleration in subsequent quarters compresses the multiple fast.
Conclusion
Palantir delivered a beat-and-raise quarter on essentially every metric that matters to the bull case. Growth accelerated to 85%, margins expanded, and the full-year guide moved up by nearly $400M.
The single soft spot, US Commercial missing the whisper number by $10M, will get attention. But the 133% growth rate in that segment is hard to argue with on a one-quarter view.
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FAQ
What were Palantir Q1 2026 revenue and EPS?
Revenue was $1.63B and adjusted EPS was $0.33, beating consensus on both lines.
How fast is Palantir growing?
Q1 2026 revenue grew 85% YoY, the fastest pace since 2020.
What is the new full-year guidance?
Palantir raised FY 2026 revenue guidance to $7.65B to $7.66B, implying 71% YoY growth.
Did Palantir miss anywhere?
US Commercial revenue of $595M missed the $605M StreetAccount consensus by $10M.
