Palantir reported second-quarter 2026 results on Monday that comfortably exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue climbing 93% year-on-year to $1.94 billion against an LSEG consensus forecast of $1.80 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 41 cents, ahead of the 35 cents anticipated. The stock rose 8% following the announcement.

Net income for the quarter reached $1.07 billion, or 41 cents per share, compared with roughly $329 million, or 13 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Chief executive Alex Karp was characteristically direct. "Forget consensus," he said. "To my knowledge, no business at our scale has even grown half this much."

US government revenue, the segment most closely tied to Palantir's work with defence and intelligence agencies, grew 90% year-on-year to $809 million. The sharper story, though, was in commercial operations. US commercial revenue surged 149% from the prior-year period to $764 million and has risen 380% on a compounded basis since 2024. The company now expects full-year US commercial revenue in excess of $3.42 billion, raised from prior guidance of $3.22 billion. Remaining US commercial deal value more than doubled year-on-year to $6.24 billion.

On the back of the quarter's performance, Palantir lifted its full-year revenue guidance to between $8.15 billion and $8.16 billion, up from a previous range of $7.65 billion to $7.66 billion. Karp said the momentum "looks like this is going to go on for at least another 18 months."

The results come after a difficult stretch for the stock, which had shed 29% this year amid concerns that the AI software trade was losing momentum. Those figures make a fairly pointed counter-argument.

Beyond the headline numbers, Karp used the occasion to reinforce his views on open-weight AI models and the competitive dynamics between US and Chinese technology. Last month he joined other technology industry figures in writing to the US government to oppose restrictions on open-weight models. "We need competition if we're going to keep model companies honest," he said, adding that American open models would need to match their Chinese counterparts to remain relevant globally.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter came in at $1.20 billion against an expected $1.09 billion, while full-year adjusted operating profit is projected at $4.90 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $4.51 billion.