Palantir CEO Karp criticises short sellers as shares fall
Despite positive results that exceeded analyst expectations, shared in security firm Palantir tumbled sharply last week. CEO Alex Karp, co-founder of the Denver-based software company (pictured), accused investors in two separate interviews on CNBC of manipulating the market. In particular, he took aim at Big Short investor Michael Burry after Burry revealed his short positions in Palantir and Nvidia. Short selling is a practice where investors see a return on their investment as the market value of an asset they invested in decreases. Burry made millions by identifying a weakness in the housing market ahead of the 2007 market crash.
Karp stated that Burry’s actions unfairly undermined Palantir’s strong results. Despite this decline, Palantir’s share price has grown remarkably in recent years, with a 135% gain in 2025 and a twenty-fivefold increase over just three years.
However, this increase has resulted in a high valuation relative to its peers. Palantir is currently trading at roughly 220 times expected earnings, significantly higher than Nvidia (33 times) and Meta (22). Even well-known short seller Andrew Left from Citron Research called Palantir “detached from fundamentals” and set a price target of $40 dollars (€34.57) per share – far below Friday’s closing price of $177.93 (€153.79).
Palantir specialises in developing analytical tools for large enterprises and government agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While the company’s recent earnings and revenue have exceeded expectations, the shares initially dropped by 8% after the announcement and continued to fall on Thursday. Karp stated that Palantir’s success was not limited to Wall Street and that the company also delivered impressive returns to individual investors.
Despite historic levels of short interest, the current percentage of outstanding shares sold short is relatively low, around 2%. Karp is no stranger to confronting skeptics. Once politically left-leaning he has in recent times aligned himself with the Trump administration and has been vocal in his support for deregulating AI development. Karp admitted that his pro-Israel stance has led some employees to leave Palantir.
In the past, he has called on those dissatisfied with the share price to simply “walk away.” He expressed confidence in Palantir’s future, saying the company plans to work with the best talent and dominate the market.
During his interviews on CNBC, Karp directly addressed Burry for his short positions in Palantir and Nvidia, two companies he says are driving vital technological progress. He described Burry’s strategy as “mad as a hatter” and highlighted the absurdity of betting against sectors crucial to technological advancement.
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