Palantir (PLTR) shares sank around 9% in early trading this morning after the data mining software company posted a operating loss for its latest quarter, although on an adjusted basis, earnings per share came in above Street estimates.
The company's operating loss for the three months ending in December totaled $156.7 million, including $241.8 million in stock-based compensation and $18.9 million in related employer payroll taxes.
On an adjusted basis, income from operations was $104.1 million, after adjusting for stock-based compensation and related employer payroll taxes. On an adjusted basis earnings per share came in at 6 cents. The Street was expected EPS of 2 cents, according to Bloomberg data.
For the full year, operating loss came in at $1.12 billion. However, excluding stock based compensation and other charges, Palantir swung to a profit of $189.9 million for the year.
Fourth quarter revenue totaled $322 million, up 40% year-over-year. The Street was expecting revenue of $300 million according to Bloomberg data. Palantir's full year 2020 revenue totaled $1.1 billion, up 47% year-over-year.
The company's new contracts in the last three months of 2020 include PG&E (PCG), BP (BP), the U.S. Air Force and the FDA.
The company, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, went public through a direct listing in September. On its first day of trading shares closed at $9.50 each. The stock has more than tripled since then.
Palantir garnered increased attention since going public, mainly because of the data sensitive services it provides to government agencies and other organizations and its corporate governance structure which it has clarified through amendments in its S-1 filing.
Palantir provides two main services to its clients. Palantir Gotham is the name of its first software platform constructed for analysts at defense and intelligence agencies. The service is used by government agencies and law enforcement.
[Read more: Here's what Palantir, the secretive data company does]
Palantir Foundry is the platform it created to be used by commercial institutions across different industries for data involving large projects. The platform creates a central operating system for organizations’s data.
12:PM - This article has been updated to include adjusted earnings per share data.
Ines covers the U.S. stock market. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre
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