Demand for Palantir Shares Has Allegedly Gone Poof

November 7, 2016

I read “Ex-Palantir Employees Are Struggling To Sell Their Shares.” Let’s assume that the information in the write up is spot on. The main idea is that one of the most visible of Silicon Valley’s secretive companies has created a problem for some of its former employees. I learned:

Demand has evaporated” for the shares that make up the bulk of Palantir’s pay packages, and the company’s CEO seems aware of financial angst among his staff.

The softening of the market for stock options suggests that the company’s hassles with investors and the legal dust up with the US government are having an effect. Couple the buzz with the prices in Silicon Valley, and it is easy to understand why some people want to covert options for cash money. I highlighted this passage:

Some said they needed the cash to buy a house or pay down debt, while another said they took out a loan to fund the process of turning the options into shares. One said it was “infuriating” trying to sell their shares in a “crap” market.

I found this statement from a broker, who was not named, suggestive:

This person then quoted an unidentified broker as saying, “There is absolutely nothing moving in Palantir. People who have bought through us are trying to sell now. I don’t see it changing without the company changing their tone on an IPO.”

With the apparent decision relating to the US Army and it procurement position with regards to Palantir going the way of the Hobbits, perhaps the negativism will go away.

One thought: Buzzfeed continues to peck away at Palantir Technologies. Palantir Technologies has a relationship with Peter Thiel. The intersection of online publications and Peter Thiel has been interesting. Worth watching.

Stephen E Arnold, November 7, 2016

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