Palantir and Sandisk Both Posted Blowout Earnings in 2026. The Stock Market Rewarded Only One of Them the Same Day. Here’s the Difference
Jennifer Saibil, The Motley Fool
Tue, July 21, 2026 at 12:13 PM GMT+5:30
5 min read
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) are two incredibly popular artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. However, Wall Street is looking at them differently right now
Palantir was a poster child stock for AI for years, and it gained 1,800% from 2019 through 2025. Sandisk wasn’t publicly traded as a separate company during most of the AI era, until February 2025, when it was spun off from Western Digital. Since then, it has gained an astounding 3,800%
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Both of these companies are reporting incredible growth, but while Sandisk stock soared after its latest earnings report, Palantir stock dropped. Here’s why
Why Palantir stock dropped
Palantir has many qualities that have made it an outstanding company and a fantastic stock to own over the past few years. It has a proprietary AI platform that unifies information from disparate silos for government and commercial clients, providing data analysis and insights, and helping leaders make informed, data-driven decisions
There are several ways Palantir goes beyond being another AI platform. It sends in trained specialists to work with clients, and helps them embed the platform throughout their organizations. Between its long-term contracts with clients and its success at deeply integrating itself within their operations, it has erected a high barrier to entry for potential rivals.
It attracts new business all the time from clients eager to get the most out of their own data, and it continues to demonstrate robust growth. In the first quarter, Palantir’s revenue increased 85% year over year, with a 104% increase in U.S. commercial businesses. Total contract value increased 61%, and adjusted operating margin was 60%
However, Palantir has been one of the most visible victims of the market’s revolt against software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks
The chief concern is that AI agents can be built to perform many of the tasks SaaS companies handle. This technology is poised to become widely used, and as a result, investors are worried that Palantir’s moat isn’t quite as durable as it once appeared
Palantir is also priced for perfection, making a share price drop almost inevitable. Its P/E ratio topped 600 last year; it’s nearly impossible for any stock to sustain that kind of valuation for an extended period of time
