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Anduril Industries Valued at $30.5 Billion After $2.5 Billion Fundraising Round

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Defense tech startup Anduril Industries has more than doubled its valuation to $30.5 billion in a fresh funding round where it raised $2.5 billion, the company announced Thursday. This latest capital injection follows last year’s raise of $1.5 billion, which valued the company at $14 billion.

The new funding round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, which contributed $1 billion. Other existing investors also increased their stakes as part of the Series G financing.

Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, Anduril specializes in autonomous defense technologies such as sensors and drones. The company has risen rapidly amid growing demand for affordable, automated defense solutions.

Anduril recently formed a strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies to create a consortium aiming to jointly pursue government contracts, aligned with Pentagon efforts to reduce defense spending.

Founders Fund has been a key backer since Anduril’s inception, with co-founder Trae Stephens also serving as a partner at the investment firm.

Palantir Shares Tumble Over 13% Despite Revenue Beat and Upgraded Forecast

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Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O) saw its stock plunge more than 13% on Tuesday, as investors reacted negatively to quarterly results and a raised full-year forecast that fell short of Wall Street’s elevated expectations. This comes after the stock had soared 63% year-to-date, following a quadruple gain in 2023, driven by optimism around its AI capabilities and government contracts.

The Denver-based data analytics firm reported first-quarter revenue of $883.9 million, a 39% year-over-year increase, and above analyst expectations of $862.8 million, according to LSEG. U.S. government revenue surged 45%, highlighting continued momentum in federal and defense sectors.

Despite the beat, analysts say the market had already priced in strong performance, leaving little room for upside. “We believe we have reached a point where respectable earnings beats and raised guidance aren’t enough to materially move the stock to the upside,” said Morningstar analyst Mark Giarelli.

Palantir now forecasts 2024 revenue between $3.89 billion and $3.90 billion, up from the prior estimate of $3.74 billion to $3.76 billion. The company also noted a record number of $1 million+ deals, with strong customer growth in U.S. commercial sectors such as healthcare, energy, and automotive.

However, valuation concerns are mounting. Palantir’s 12-month forward P/E ratio stands at 202.07, significantly higher than that of industry peers like Snowflake (131), Datadog (54.81), and Salesforce (23.48). If the stock decline holds, the company is poised to shed over $40 billion from its $292 billion market cap.

Despite the sell-off, at least nine brokerages raised their price targets for Palantir post-earnings, pushing the median target to $96.46 — a sign of continued long-term confidence in the firm’s AI-driven growth.

Musk’s xAI Joins Palantir and TWG in Financial Sector AI Expansion

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Elon Musk’s AI firm, xAI, has officially teamed up with Palantir Technologies and investment group TWG Global in a major push to bring artificial intelligence solutions to the financial services and insurance industries, the companies announced Tuesday.

TWG Global, led by Guggenheim Partners founder Mark Walter and entertainment financier Thomas Tull, will spearhead implementation efforts by working directly with financial firms to integrate AI into operational decision-making and customer offerings.

The partnership will incorporate xAI’s proprietary technologies, including its Grok large language models and the Colossus supercomputer, into enterprise AI platforms. Palantir will provide its powerful data analytics infrastructure to support model deployment.

This initiative marks a significant step as financial institutions increasingly seek AI-driven insights to streamline processes, automate decision-making, and reduce risk. The companies noted they expect to onboard additional partners in the coming months.

The collaboration follows a growing trend of AI-aligned alliances: in March, xAI and Nvidia joined forces with a consortium backed by Microsoft, MGX, and BlackRock to scale AI infrastructure across the U.S.