Palantir CEO Alex Karp spent the week publicly attacking investors who are betting against the company, after the PLTR stock fell by more than 11% despite reporting stronger-than-expected earnings.
Alex, who co-founded the company in 2003, said short sellers are trying to damage a business he claims is supporting both investors and U.S. government partners. He directed his criticism especially at Michael Burry, who recently revealed short positions against the company and Nvidia.
In two separate interviews on CNBC, Alex accused short sellers of “market manipulation.” On Tuesday, he targeted Burry’s bearish position, and on Friday, he repeated the same stance while speaking to Sara Eisen.
Alex said:
“To get out of his position, he had to screw the whole economy by besmirching the best financials ever that are helping the average person as investors and on the battlefield.”
He made it clear he believes the short bets are designed to create panic rather than evaluate financial performance.
Karp challenges short bets in public
Even though the stock dropped this week, Palantir is still up 135% in 2025 and has risen 25 times in value over the past three years. The market valuation now stands above $420 billion.
But the sharp price increase pushed the forward earnings multiple to about 220 times, which places it near the valuation levels of Tesla. By contrast, Nvidia trades near 33 times future earnings and Meta trades near 22.
Critics argue the company has outpaced its fundamental value, while the leadership argues revenue and profit growth justify investor interest.
In August, Andrew Left of Citron Research said Palantir was “detached from fundamentals and analysis” and stated that the stock should be valued at $40. On Friday, the stock ended the day at $177.93 after moving higher late in the session.
Earlier in the week, the company reported earnings and revenue that exceeded analyst forecasts, and its full-year outlook was also stronger than what Wall Street expected.
Yet the stock still fell roughly 8% Monday and nearly 7% Thursday. During the interview with Eisen, Alex said, “We’re delivering venture results for retail investors.”
The short interest ratio, which measures the percentage of outstanding shares sold short, was above 9% in September but is now a little over 2%. That is one of the lowest levels since the company went public in 2020.
Alex has previously said that anyone who dislikes the stock price should “exit.” After a previous earnings-related share decline in May, he said, “You don’t have to buy our shares.” He followed that by saying the company would continue partnering with key institutions and “dominate.”
Leadership, politics, and criticism remain present
The company continues to face criticism for its work with U.S. agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Alex has said his pro-Israel position caused some employees to depart. He said the company will continue to support defense and government missions whether or not there is political backlash. He did not signal any change to those relationships.
During Monday’s earnings call, Alex questioned how people who did not invest in Palantir feel now and told them to “get some popcorn.” On CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday, he again went after Burry’s position against the company and Nvidia.
Alex said, “The two companies he’s shorting are the ones making all the money, which is super weird. The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is bats— crazy.”
Alex said the short sellers are “dumb,” but he also said they motivate him to push harder. He added that his plan is to make them, in his words, “poorer.”
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