Palantir Technologies Stock Price and Forecast: Is it time to buy PLTR?

Palantir (PLTR) stock was one of the hot names in town for retail traders throughout 2021, but it has certainly not been rewarding investors recently. Palantir released earnings on November 9, and it has been pretty much one-way traffic since then. The stock had earlier put in a bearish double top and the earnings report just added to the negative sentiment. After earnings, Palantir (PLTR) immediately cracked below the 200-day moving average and that signaled more losses ahead. Despite some strong rallies for meme and retail names in the interim, Palantir has barely shown any signs of a bounce. Is that about to change?

Palantir (PLTR) stock news

Palantir has a strong government client list and an impressive private sector list also, which has been steadily growing through 2021. However, the stock was on quite a high price/earnings rating, which investors justified by its high compound annual growth rate. The last earnings report showed this growth rate was slowing, which is what investors appeared to focus on.

Revenue growth in Q3 slowed from 49% to 36% YoY. This prompted RBC to downgrade the stock the day after earnings. The company generated impressive cash flow with strong margins, but the issue again of stock compensation was raised by many investors. This has been a feature with Palantir for some time. On November 19 CEO Alex Karp defended Palantir's stock compensation, saying it was taking a long-term view on attracting the best talent to fuel long-term growth. "We've hired the best and most interesting and eclectic people in the world. ... They are very fairly compensated, and we will continue to develop these products and continue to comp people," he said. 

Slowing growth and concerns over stock-based compensation proved too much as momentum slowed. However, growth is still strong, and the company is constantly in the news with new partnerships deals. So we expect fundamental cash and revenue generation to remain strong in 2022. Yes, it may slow, but the stock has now retreated significantly, so is it time to rethink the investment case?

Palantir (PLTR) stock forecast

For now the trend remains, bearish but what we are trying to achieve is to catch a turnaround. This is always dangerous, so stops need to be in palce. The 9-day moving average will be the first pivot at $19.77. Both the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) appear also to be bottoming out, and the MACD is close to crossing over. The last post-earnings low at $17.06 from back in May is key. Holding above here means effectively a higher low, and buyers again should step back in to this area.

Trying to call a bottom is always tricky, however, Palantir has not broken above the 9-day moving avearge since earnings, so that is our short term pivot point and buy signal. Watch for a break of the 9-day MA and confirmation from a MACD crossover.

Palantir chart, daily

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