Palantir Sank Today — Is the Stock a Buy Right Now?

Palantir (PLTR -3.98%) stock got hit with another round of sell-offs in Tuesday’s trading. The company’s share price closed out the day’s trading down 4% and had been off as much as 6.2% earlier in the session.

Palantir’s valuation pulled back today in conjunction with new bearish coverage from Jeffries. Brent Thill, the investment firm’s lead analyst on the stock, published new coverage on Palantir this morning and maintained an underperform rating on the stock and a one-year price target of $60 per share. Based on Tuesday’s closing price of $83.89 per share, Thill’s target suggests additional downside of 28.5%.

While Thill sang the praises of Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) after a recent conference showcasing the service, the Jeffries analyst raised concerns about the software specialist’s valuation profile. Despite Palantir stock having pulled back 33% from its high, the company is still valued at roughly 150 times this year’s expected earnings and 52 times expected sales. No matter how you slice it, that’s a highly growth-dependent valuation.

Is Palantir stock a buy right now?

Palantir’s heavily forward-looking valuation means the stock is probably not a good fit for investors without high risk tolerance. Some very strong sales and earnings growth is already priced into the stock, and shares could see a big pullback if business expansion comes in lower than anticipated or the macroeconomic backdrop takes a turn for the worse.

On the other hand, Palantir looks to have built a clear leadership position in artificial intelligence (AI) software services for both public and private sector customers. The company’s existing strengths are already helping it deliver fantastic sales growth and improved margins, and wins early in the AI race could build the foundations for massive success over the long term. So while Palantir is a risky stock, I think it will deliver strong returns for investors who take a buy-and-hold approach at today’s prices.