Nvidia vs Palantir: Which AI stock is clearer after earnings?

After both companies posted blowout AI earnings, NVIDIA looks like the clearer buy on valuation. It trades near a P/E of 42 with $21.34 billion in quarterly free cash flow, while PLTR sits at roughly 146–148x earnings with shares already near analyst targets around $191. Both grew triple digits and raised guidance—but the risk-reward gap is now wide enough to matter for anyone building AI exposure.

Key Takeaways

• NVIDIA delivered $96.22 billion in revenue (up 106% year over year) and $21.34 billion in quarterly free cash flow at a P/E near 42.
• PLTR revenue grew 92.8% to $1.94 billion, with U.S. commercial up 149%, but the stock trades near $186 against a roughly $192 analyst target.
• Trefis estimates PLTR needs 33% revenue CAGR over seven years to justify its ~148x multiple—below current 79% growth but above a sustainable pace.
• Maven is now a Pentagon program of record, positioning Palantir for up to $2.3 billion in expansion funding over five years.
• For AI buildout exposure, the picks-and-shovels layer may offer a tighter risk-reward than the application layer at today's prices.

Why does NVIDIA look like the clearer buy after earnings?

NVIDIA and Palantir tell the same AI story from opposite ends of the stack. NVIDIA sells compute; Palantir sells the operational layer that turns tokens into enterprise and government workflows. Both raised guidance and are priced for perfection, which is exactly why comparing them matters now.

NVIDIA posted $96.22 billion in revenue, up 105.85% year over year, with Data Center alone hitting $89 billion on the Blackwell Ultra ramp. CEO Jensen Huang said AI has reached its inflection point: "It's doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue." Networking grew 138% year over year, and Vera Rubin production shipments have started.

On valuation, NVIDIA trades near a P/E of 42 after climbing 15.49% over the past year. Palantir sits at a P/E of roughly 146, with an analyst target of $191.68 barely above the current $185.91 quote. Reddit sentiment flipped sharply bullish on NVDA after the report, while PLTR readings turned bearish in mid-August on bubble concerns, according to Yahoo Finance.

Can PLTR stock live up to its multiple?

Palantir's execution is genuinely impressive. Revenue of $1.94 billion grew 92.8%, U.S. commercial revenue jumped 149%, and the Rule of 40 hit 155%. The company signed 73 deals worth at least $10 million, with its AIP platform embedding into enterprise workflows. CEO Alex Karp called the quarter "otherworldly."

Yet the market is paying 147.9x trailing earnings for that growth. Trefis analysis shows that to defend PLTR's $446.2 billion market cap over seven years, revenue must compound from $6.2 billion today to $44.3 billion—a 33% CAGR. That is below the 79% last-twelve-month pace but above what a cyclical peak can sustain.

Management has signaled a significant expense ramp from new hiring, and the company relies heavily on the booming U.S. market. Margins sit at a cyclical peak of 49%, far above the 23% three-year average. A $265 million quarterly stock-based compensation bill adds dilution risk if hypergrowth slows. For more on how high-multiple names fit a broader portfolio, see our Net Worth & Wealth coverage.

What does Maven's Pentagon status mean for Palantir?

While commercial AI grabs headlines, Palantir still earns the majority of revenue from government contracts. U.S. government revenue was $809 million in Q2, up 90% year over year and nearly 42% of total revenue.

Maven, Palantir's AI-powered military platform, is now an official Pentagon program of record. The designation streamlines use across all military branches and helps assure continued funding. Palantir is seeking $2.3 billion over five years to expand Maven, which analyzes battlefield data from satellites, drones, and sensors to support AI-enabled targeting.

Palantir won a Pentagon contract in 2024 worth up to $480 million; the ceiling increased to $1.3 billion in 2025. Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg wrote that investing in AI integration across the Joint Force is "imperative." Karp has said Maven makes LLMs "actually lethal and useful in the battlefield."

How do NVIDIA and Palantir stack up on growth?

Huang is repositioning NVIDIA beyond chips toward a "full-stack AI factory platform." Vera Rubin generates $40 billion per gigawatt of revenue opportunity versus $25 billion for Blackwell. The catch: NVIDIA is supply constrained and expects only "approximately 70%" revenue growth next fiscal year despite demand doubling.

Palantir plays a different game—AI sovereignty, where customers "own the weights" and "own the alpha." U.S. commercial TCV bookings hit $2.132 billion, up 153% year over year. Notably, Palantir's fine-tuning stack runs on NVIDIA hardware, making them partners as much as adjacent bets.

For investors weighing AI exposure, NVIDIA's multiple looks reasonable for a business printing massive free cash flow with supply-constrained demand. PLTR would become more interesting if its multiple compressed meaningfully—execution is strong, but the stock already reflects years of hypergrowth ahead.