Palantir CEO Alex Karp Just Hinted at a Huge Artificial Intelligence (AI) Opportunity That Could Be a Game Changer

There's a pretty solid argument to be made that Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) has been the most lucrative of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks to own over the last 12 months. After all, Palantir's shares returned an incredible 340% in 2024, making it the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).

And so far this year, the company's joyride doesn't appear to be slowing down either, with its shares up already 20% (as of Feb. 24).

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

At a fundamental level, the underpinning bull thesis around Palantir stock revolves around the company's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). Since AIP's debut in April 2023, Palantir has significantly grown its customer base, which has led to impressive revenue acceleration, widening margins, and a transition to a profitable company.

With that said, there are more layers to Palantir beyond AIP. During a recent interview on CNBC, Karp made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it comment about another product fueling Palantir's growth.

Below, I'll explore Karp's reference and detail why it could be a game changer for Palantir.

Karp just dropped a breadcrumb that's worth following

In addition to AIP, Palantir has three main software platforms: Foundry, Gotham, and Apollo. During his recent interview on CNBC, Karp made a specific reference to Apollo but did not delve into much detail about the application. This prompted me to do some of my own digging.

On Palantir's website, the company states that "Apollo deploys, monitors, remediates, and secures your software across heterogeneous environments." Let's explore what that actually means, and why it's important.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Apollo could be a game changer

When it comes to tweaking software, engineers are often responsible for making changes to various aspects of the codebase, which can be a time-consuming and arduous task. Moreover, the manual aspect of these updates can come with security risks.

Apollo was created to streamline this process. Essentially, Apollo is the operating system that actually deploys Palantir's other systems -- Gotham and Foundry. The Apollo platform can be managed across multiple environments, including on-premises, cloud infrastructure networks such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform, as well as on private servers.

Apollo's value add is that by automating software operations, developers can allocate more time to other responsibilities such as product development -- thereby saving time and reducing overhead costs for an organization.

The big idea to understand here is that Apollo is the bridge that connects other software platforms. Palantir is quietly building a software ecosystem stitching together AI, data analytics, and secure deployment -- all across one system. I think this positions Palantir well to become an ever more important backbone for enterprise workloads -- which should become more complex as investment in AI applications continues to soar.

In a way, I think investors can already get a glimpse into how customers are relying so heavily on Palantir's infrastructure. According to the company's fourth-quarter earnings report, the average trailing-12-month revenue for Palantir's top 20 customers was $64.6 million -- an increase of 18% year over year.

To me, the trends above suggest that Palantir's customer base is sticky, and the company has been successful in its efforts to cross-sell, upsell, and command stronger unit economics thanks to its high-quality suite of products.

Given that the AI revolution is still in its early stages, I think Palantir should continue witnessing expansion opportunities across the customer base underscored by AIP and its sibling products. While AIP will likely continue to be in the spotlight, I'd encourage investors to listen closely to Palantir's leadership referencing other emerging pockets of the business.

Should you invest $1,000 in Palantir Technologies right now?

Before you buy stock in Palantir Technologies, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Palantir Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $798,425!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

Learn more »

*Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2025

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Spatacco has positions in Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.