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Last Updated: 04-Nov-25 09:00 ET | Archive
Palantir response triggers profit-taking mode
Briefing.com Summary:
*Palantir posted impressive quarterly results but is down sharply after its report.
*A profit-taking urge has set in and has sparked early losses in all Magnificent 7 stocks.
*There isn't any macro news driving things today, yet there are a lot of micro developments in the mix.
There is a negative bias in the equity futures market this morning. Currently, the S&P 500 futures are down 73 points and are trading 1.0% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 373 points and are trading 1.4% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 277 points and are trading 0.6% below fair value.
We can point to two causal factors for the negative disposition.
The first is a general mode of profit-taking, perhaps seen best in shares of NVIDIA (NVDA), which have surged 15% over the last eight sessions alone but are down 2.2% in pre-market action on no news.
The second factor, which may be contributing to the first factor, is that Palantir Technologies (PLTR) is down 7.9% in pre-market trading after posting better-than-expected Q3 results and issuing better-than-expected Q4 guidance.
Palantir, trading at close to 100x sales, has been a poster child for valuation concerns, as well as a standard bearer for the momentum/growth trade. Accordingly, the weak price action after yet another terrific earnings report has taken some wind out of the market's sails, acting as a sign to some that this stock and the market-cap-weighted market have gotten ahead of themselves.
The simplest explanation is that there is just a mode of profit-taking this morning. What remains to be seen is if there will be a comparably simple approach of letting the opening weakness play out before players step back in to buy the weakness.
That has been a rewarding modus operandi since the April lows, with most of the rewards accruing to the mega-cap stocks and growth stocks.
There isn't really any macro news today that is pushing things. It all boils down primarily to the micro situation, which is dotted with a load of earnings reports that also includes results from the likes of Uber (UBER), Pfizer (PFE), Clorox (CLX), Marriott (MAR), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), Yum! Brands (YUM), Harley-Davidson (HOG), and Sealed Air (SEE).
Some of those stocks are up, and some are down. The main overhang, though, is that all of the "Magnificent 7" stocks are down. That being the case, there is excess weight that is weighing on the broader market.
