For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 2, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Microsoft MSFT and Oracle ORCL.
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Should Palantir Stock Be in Your Portfolio Before Q3 Earnings?
Palantir Technologies Inc. is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2026 results on Nov. 2, after the bell.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the to-be-reported quarter stands at 41 cents, indicating 95.2% growth from the year-ago reported quarter. The consensus estimate for total revenues stands at $2.17 billion, indicating 83.9% year-over-year growth. There have been two downward revisions to analyst estimates in the past 30 days.
The company has a strong history of earnings surprises. Earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, with an average earnings surprise of 15.8%.
PLTR’s Lesser Chance of Q3 Earnings Beat
Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for PLTR this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
PLTR has an Earnings ESP of -2.44% and a Zacks Rank #3.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
PLTR’s All-Round Healthy Business Should be the Driver in Q3
We expect a significant year-over-year improvement in the company’s top line in the to-be-reported quarter, driven by healthy business from existing and new customers, strengthening both the Government and Commercial segments.
The consensus estimate for Government revenues stands at $1.04 billion, indicating 63.9% year-over-year growth. The consensus estimate for Commercial revenues is pegged at $892.1 million, suggesting more than 100% year-over-year growth.
PLTR Stock Experiencing a Rally
Palantir shares have gained 60% over the past three months. This performance clearly indicates ongoing strength in the stock.
Based on the trailing 12-month EV-to-EBITDA, PLTR is currently trading at 217.71X, way above the industry’s 12.13X. If we look at the forward 12-month Price/Earnings ratio, the company’s shares are currently trading at 89.01X forward earnings, well above the industry’s 28.30X.
PLTR Stock: Hold Before Q3 Earnings
Palantir's robust AI-driven demand, expanding customer base and strong momentum across Government and Commercial businesses support its long-term growth prospects. However, the stock's impressive rally and substantial valuation premium over the industry suggest that much of the anticipated growth is already priced in.
Moreover, downward earnings estimate revisions and an unfavorable Earnings ESP raise concerns about a potential earnings disappointment. While Palantir's solid fundamentals and expanding market opportunities warrant optimism, its stretched valuation leaves limited room for execution setbacks. Investors should therefore maintain their existing positions and avoid aggressive buying ahead of earnings, making PLTR a prudent hold for now.
Peer View
Microsoft remains one of the most important comparisons because of its expanding enterprise AI ecosystem and deep integration of AI tools into corporate software environments. Microsoft benefits from enormous distribution through Azure and its productivity applications. Still, Palantir differentiates itself by focusing heavily on linking AI directly with operational data and workflows. Microsoft remains a formidable competitor, but Palantir’s specialized architecture could sustain demand in complex deployments where governance, integration and execution are critical.
Oracle is another relevant enterprise technology peer due to its extensive database, cloud infrastructure and business-application footprint. Oracle continues to expand its AI capabilities across enterprise systems, giving customers another pathway for integrating AI with critical corporate data. However, Palantir’s emphasis on building operational digital environments across disparate systems provides a different value proposition. Oracle has considerable scale, while Palantir is increasingly positioning itself as a specialized operating layer for AI-enabled decision-making.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).