As Palantir Technologies ($PLTR) made its long-anticipated public debut, CFO David Glazer said the secretive software company isn't anticipating many headwinds from the upcoming election.
"Palantir has been in business for three different administrations on the U.S. side, both Democratic and Republican, five different prime ministers in the UK, four in France," Glazer told Cheddar. "Really we're focused on contracting day-in, day-out with the civil servants that are running these organizations, that are running the government in many agencies."
"Who's in the White House or 10 Downing Street isn't a big factor for us," he added.
The company co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel opened on the New York Stock Exchange at $10 per share through a direct listing rather than an initial public offering. It closed the day at $9.50.
The direct listing process helps companies that want to avoid a lock-up period for existing shareholders, which Glazer said was one reason for going that route.
"Number one, the company was in a strong position on our balance sheet," he said. "In addition to that, we wanted to give our stockholders and our employees, many of who have been here a really long time, the ability to sell on day one, so that's really why we took the direct listing route."
However, CNBC reported after the debut that Palantir employees and alumni struggled to sell their shares due to a problem with the platform provided by Morgan Stanley.
This is just one of several dramatic developments that have surrounded the listing.
In one version of the filing, which was revised several times, CEO Alexander Karp used the opportunity to publicly break with Silicon Valley, where the company has long been based. This is also where the company announced that it was moving its headquarters to Denver.
“Our company was founded in Silicon Valley,” Karp wrote. “But we seem to share fewer and fewer of the technology sector’s values and commitments.”
The filing also suggested that Palantir would be diversifying its business with more commercial clients, as opposed to the government agencies that have, for good or bad, made its reputation.
Glazer said the reality behind Palantir's reputation has always been more complicated.
"Revenue in 2019 was roughly 50-50 between the commercial and government segment," he said. "A lot of people assume that our government business has always really been this massive thing when really the commercial business has been a significant part of our business for a while now."
The CFO was also confident that the company was finally also headed for profitability after 17 years in business.
"When you look at our current customer base, we have roughly six out of the Fortune 100 and 21 out of the Global 300," he said. "So there's a really big greenfield ahead of us in terms of customers."
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
Starbucks’ AI barista aims to speed service and improve experience. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune Business Editor, explains its impact on workers and customers.
As Big Tech reports Q3 earnings, investors await proof that massive AI and cloud investments from Meta, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet are driving real growth.
Eric Trump joins us to discuss American Bitcoin’s mission, market strategy, and why he believes the U.S. must lead the next era of digital currency innovation.
