Palantir Looks Like a Consulting Company. Its Numbers Tell a Different Story.
Despite criticism that Palantir operates like a consulting firm, its financial metrics reveal a highly scalable software business. With 93% YoY revenue growth, 62% operating margins, and $1.2B in adjusted free cash flow, Palantir demonstrates economics typical of software companies rather than labor-intensive consulting. The company's forward-deployed engineers deploy its AI Platform (AIP) across customer organizations, enabling rapid expansion. While trading at high valuation multiples (P/S of 78, P/E of 160), the author argues these metrics are less relevant given the company's exceptional growth and margin expansion trajectory.