Last Updated -
May 4, 2026
Explore the business model, global strategy, and market performance including insights into its position in China.
Palantir Technologies was founded in 2003 and is now headquartered in Aventura, Florida. The company first built software for the U.S. intelligence community and later expanded into commercial industries that face similar data integration and decision-making problems. Palantir’s core idea is to help organizations connect data, decisions, and operations at scale, while keeping privacy and civil liberties in view. Today, it serves government, commercial, and nonprofit customers that work with complex and highly sensitive information.
Its core platforms are Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and AIP. Gotham supports defense and intelligence workflows, Foundry turns fragmented enterprise data into operational systems, Apollo manages software deployment across environments, and AIP links large language models with real-world workflows and actions. This product stack has pushed Palantir beyond classic analytics into operational software used in both public and private sector settings.
Palantir entered 2026 with sharply higher scale. Revenue reached $4.48 billion in 2025, then rose 85% year over year to $1.63 billion in Q1 2026, with U.S. revenue up 104% to $1.28 billion. U.S. commercial revenue reached $595 million and U.S. government revenue reached $687 million in the quarter, showing strength across both sides of the business. After these results, management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $7.650 billion to $7.662 billion.
Palantir sells software that sits between data infrastructure, workflow software, and decision support. Its four core platforms are Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and AIP. Together, they connect data, logic, models, and operations across cloud, on-premises, and edge environments. In 2025, 54% of revenue came from government customers and 46% came from commercial customers, which shows a business with deep public sector roots and a much broader commercial base than in its early years.
Palantir’s market position is strongest where data is fragmented, deployment environments are complex, and decisions have operational or security consequences. That is an inference from its product design and customer mix. In practice, Palantir competes as a high-trust operating system for governments and large enterprises rather than as a narrow analytics tool. The latest metrics support that view: total customer count reached 1,007 in the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2026, commercial customer count reached 832, and U.S. commercial customer count reached 615. In Q1 2026, Palantir also reported overall TCV of $2.41 billion, total RPO of $4.45 billion, long-term RPO of $2.70 billion, and net dollar retention of 150%. After the quarter, management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $7.650 billion to $7.662 billion and guided for U.S. commercial revenue above $3.224 billion.
Palantir has limited direct exposure to China by design. In its 2025 annual report, the company states that it does not work with the Chinese Communist Party, does not consider sales opportunities with it, does not host its platforms in China, and imposes limits on access to its software in China. China is not presented as a current operating priority or expansion market in Palantir’s own disclosures.
Palantir’s geographic reporting supports that view. For 2025, the company disclosed revenue by geography as the United States, the United Kingdom, and rest of world. The U.S. generated $3.32 billion, or 74% of total revenue. The U.K. generated $427.4 million, or 10%. Rest of world generated $728.0 million, or 16%, and no other country accounted for 10% or more of total revenue. China is therefore not disclosed as a material standalone market in Palantir’s filings. That is an inference from the company’s reporting structure.
The Q1 2026 numbers make the same point. Palantir’s growth remains heavily concentrated in the U.S., where revenue rose 104% year over year to $1.282 billion. That included $595 million in U.S. commercial revenue and $687 million in U.S. government revenue, against total company revenue of $1.633 billion in the quarter. Management also raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $7.650 billion to $7.662 billion and lifted U.S. commercial guidance to more than $3.224 billion. For a China-focused section, the key takeaway is clear: Palantir’s current position in China is defined less by local scale and more by deliberate non-participation.
Palantir entered 2026 with stronger momentum than it had at the start of the year. In Q1 2026, revenue rose 85% year over year to $1.633 billion, U.S. revenue rose 104% to $1.282 billion, GAAP operating income reached $754 million, and GAAP net income reached $871 million. Management also raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $7.650 billion to $7.662 billion, up from the $7.182 billion to $7.198 billion range given after Q4 2025, and lifted U.S. commercial revenue guidance to more than $3.224 billion from more than $3.144 billion.
The current trajectory points to Palantir becoming more deeply embedded as an operating software layer for governments and large enterprises. That is an inference from the Q1 2026 mix of faster U.S. commercial growth, strong government demand, large contract wins, and sharply higher margins. The main issue for the next few years is sustaining this pace while turning today’s U.S.-led momentum into a broader and more durable global business.
This Company Profile was written by Dominik Diemer
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