Does Billionaire Ken Griffin Know Something Wall Street Doesn't? The Citadel Chief Sold 91% of His Stake in Palantir and Is Piling Into This Stock-Split Stock Instead.


Billionaire Ken Griffin has made an indelible mark on Wall Street and has been cited as one of the most successful investors of all time. He famously predicted the 1987 stock market crash, known as “Black Monday,” shorting stocks ahead of the decline and making a veritable fortune. His hedge fund, Citadel Advisors, generated gains of 15% last year, turning a profit of $7 billion and outperforming many of his peers. This came on the heels of his blockbuster performance in 2022, when Citadel was named “the most successful hedge fund ever,” according to CNN, with a profit of $16 billion, the “largest annual windfall on record,” according to the report.

Griffin is also a big proponent when it comes to the potential of generative artificial intelligence (AI). “This branch of AI will be game-changing for the economy because it will take an enormous amount of work that’s done today by people and do it in a distinctly different, highly automated, highly efficient way,” Griffin said.

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With that as a backdrop, it’s notable that Griffin sold an eye-catching 91% of Citadel’s stake in AI specialist Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and is piling into a high-profile stock-split stock instead.

A business person looking at charts on a computer with light reflecting off their glasses.
Image source: Getty Images.

Palantir has more than two decades of experience in the field of AI, and it moved quickly when generative AI went viral early last year. The company developed its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), a cutting-edge AI tool that helps businesses solve real-world problems using company-specific data. However, Palantir’s biggest coup was developing hands-on sessions called boot camps, which pair customers with Palantir engineers to create these AI-fueled solutions.

That strategy has been wildly successful. Palantir’s U.S. commercial revenue, which includes AIP, jumped 54% year over year and 13% sequentially in the third quarter, while customers in the segment soared 77%. Furthermore, the segment’s remaining deal value jumped 73%, suggesting its growth streak will continue.

The results help illustrate why Palantir stock is up 295% over the past year and more than 1,000% since the start of 2023 (as of this writing). It also didn’t hurt that Palantir was admitted to the S&P 500 on Sept. 23.

In light of the company’s ongoing winning streak and impressive stock price gains, it might seem surprising that Griffin went on a selling spree, dumping more than 5 million shares of Palantir stock and reducing his position by roughly 91%. However, the soaring stock price brought with it a commensurate increase in the valuation and Palantir closed out the third quarter selling for 98 times forward earnings. With a valuation of that magnitude, it isn’t surprising that Griffin went bargain hunting.



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