"Messi of the AI World" gets another bullish call! Palantir (PLTR.US) long-term bulls reiterate trillion-dollar valuation logic, while "big shorts" and retail investors disagree

According to Zhitong Finance APP, long-term bull Dan Ives has once again put Palantir (PLTR.US), the AI data analytics company, under the spotlight. He stated that as enterprise-level AI adoption accelerates, Palantir’s market value could eventually reach $1 trillion—twice its current valuation of $414.6 billion.

Ives made this prediction at the ongoing Future Proof conference in Huntington Beach, California; it was relayed through second-hand sources rather than any official announcement from the company or Ives himself. This is the latest in a series of bullish statements from Ives, who repeatedly names Palantir as one of the top picks riding the AI wave.

"The Messi of AI": Ives’ Bullish Playbook for This Year

Earlier this week while appearing on the Global Money Talk podcast, Ives called Palantir, Nvidia (NVDA.US), and Microsoft (MSFT.US) the "backbone of the AI revolution," referring to Palantir as the "Messi of AI" due to its execution capabilities and proficiency at turning AI tech into enterprise-grade applications.

According to the transcript from that podcast, Ives also commented on the scale of AI development: for every dollar spent on Nvidia chips, it creates a "10x multiplier" effect in other tech segments; he had just returned from a tour of rural data centers in Nebraska, claiming there are up to 1,500 data centers under construction across the U.S.—the "heart and lungs" of this revolution. He also said this is the first time in 30 years that the U.S. has led China in tech development. He explicitly dismissed the notion of an AI bubble, arguing that the industry is in year three of an "8 to 10 year build-out cycle"—"The AI party started at 9:30, it’s now around 11:30, and this party will go until 4 a.m."

Back on August 27, he called Palantir the "golden standard" for AI use cases and said research from his firm indicates Palantir could ultimately participate in 70% to 80% of all AI use cases; he expects the company to hit a $1 trillion valuation in the next two to three years. He specifically named U.S. commercial operations as the key growth driver, projecting that business could maintain an 80% to 100% growth rate, with revenues possibly jumping from around $250 million to $500 million at the time, to $1 billion in the next 12 months; he also noted that free cash flow could rise from about $2–3 billion to $7–8 billion in the years ahead, supporting its current valuation.

It’s worth noting that Ives’ position changed this year: Reports say he left Wedbush after eight years on July 1, and is now a partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives. Another notable detail: According to 247wallst, all six AI stocks Ives named in his August 27 interview appeared in the holdings of the ETF (IVES) named after him, though there was no relevant disclosure during that broadcast.

The Stock Awaits a Catalyst

This round of bullishness comes as Palantir’s stock price lacks a new narrative. Since a jump after last month’s earnings release, the stock has been trading in a narrow range, with investors waiting for a catalyst to trigger the next breakout.

The earnings report itself provided plenty of fuel for the AI growth narrative. Q2 revenue soared 93% to $1.94 billion, with U.S. commercial revenue surging 149%; the company also raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $8.15–8.16 billion, implying 82% growth. Analysts believe its "Sovereign AI" proposition—allowing enterprises to autonomously manage, fine-tune large models, and fully control data and model weights in their own secure environments—together with the AIP + FDE (Forward-Deployed Engineer) customization model, create a moat distinct from generic SaaS offerings.

In terms of price and valuation, as of Tuesday’s close, Palantir traded at $173.31 with a market cap around $416.5 billion, in a 52-week range of $106.37 to $207.52. The stock is down nearly 3% year-to-date after several years of explosive gains—up 340% in 2024 and 135% in 2025. Valuation remains extremely high: its TTM P/E is about 148x (five-year median: 270x); price-to-sales stands at about 45x; PEG is roughly 3.42x.

UBS Echoes: Relative to AI Software Peers, It’s "Cheap"

Wall Street is also emphasizing sustained demand. On Tuesday, UBS reiterated its "Buy" rating for Palantir and raised its target price from $220 to $250. UBS analyst Karl Keirstead made this judgment, triggered by his attendance at Palantir’s AIPCon event for customers and executives last week.

He wrote in his report: "Our view—that Palantir is the best AI enabler on the market (making cutting-edge models useful in large enterprises)—has only been further reinforced after conversations with executives and customers. The demand momentum appears very strong."

His key argument is valuation: Palantir currently trades at about 51x its expected 2027 free cash flow (up from roughly 46x previously). Relative to peers like Snowflake (SNOW.US) and CrowdStrike (CRWD.US), it’s not expensive and is growing at over 90%; he forecasts a 63% CAGR for the company over the next three years, so a 53x 2028e free cash flow valuation is a "reasonable premium."

Keirstead also highlighted two investor concerns suppressing valuation—near-term growth possibly nearing a peak, and the risk of foundation model vendors moving directly into the data software layer—and countered both: "Palantir leads in all three key growth areas of AI, data, and modern defense tech, deserving a substantial premium and thus relatively underappreciated." He also mentioned a potential deepening partnership with Nvidia as another catalyst, but candidly said Palantir’s "Sovereign AI" story has a self-serving bias, and that customer resistance to foundation model providers isn’t as strong as the company claims.

Divergence: Wall Street Analysts are Bullish, "Big Shorts" and Retail Investors Are Bearish

According to Koyfin, among 32 analysts covering Palantir, 21 have a "Buy" or higher rating, 9 rate as "Hold," and 2 as "Sell" or lower; their average target price is $196.84. Another set of data from LSEG shows that as of Tuesday, 23 of 33 analysts rated it "Buy" or "Strong Buy."

But on the retail side, sentiment is nearly the opposite of the sell side. On the Stocktwits platform, retail sentiment toward Palantir remains "bearish," unchanged over the past week. One trader wrote: "Palantir is interesting. The big money is desperately trying to hold it up, but it keeps dropping. A correction is forming, it’s only a matter of time."

Institutional flows are also cautious. According to GuruFocus, insiders sold about $124 million worth of Palantir stock in the past three months; another statistic based on net transactions shows net insider sales of around $34.5 million over the 90 days ending September 9, with no meaningful insider purchasesduring this period.

The short camp is represented by noted investor Michael Burry: He believes the market values Palantir as a high-growth software company, but its core business is essentially consulting; he questions the company’s heavy use of equity compensation, the rise in U.S. federal net operating loss (NOL) from $5.5 billion in 2025 to $9 billion, and CEO private jet spending jumping from $7.7 million in 2024 to $17.2 million in 2025. He wrote, "For Palantir, in many ways, the stock price itself is the business model." He predicts its market value could ultimately dip below $100 billion, with revenues shrinking over time and the company being acquired at much lower valuations.

On one side is the "$1 trillion" endgame narrative; on the other, a modestly declining share price and bearish retail sentiment. The current controversy around Palantir isn’t about whether its growth is real—but about how much margin for error is left by the 148x P/E ratio for that growth trajectory.