Secretive Palantir lifts veil before Wall Street stock sale

Palantir Techlogies Inc., a data-mining company with deep ties to U.S. intelligence and military ncies, has shed a good deal of its tremark secrecy about its business in filing for a Wall Street stock offering.

Like many or tech companies, it will be going public without ever turning a profit.

In filings with Security and Exchange Commission Tuesday , Palantir presented a first public look at its financials — which included $580 million in losses last year — and its heavy reliance on government contracts.

It also indicated it is on track to exceed $1 billion in annual revenues. It cited revenues of $481 million for first half of 2020, up 49% from year-ago period.

Its 2019 revenues of $746 million were up 25% from previous year, company said.

growth included a big boost from U.S. Army, from which it has earned $135 million since a favorable September 2018 court ruling forced Pentagon to consider commercially available products in building its systems. That ruling opened a big door to Palantir.

document indicated that Denver-based Palantir will sell stock some time this year but did t specify a date. A company spokeswoman declined comment on filing.

Founded in 2003 by investors including Peter Thiel, PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor, Palantir got involved early on in government counterintelligence work with seed money from In-Q-Tel, investment arm of Central Intelligence ncy.

Tuesday’s filing mentions company's work helping U.S. soldiers counter an epidemic of roside bombings and assisting Special Forces in fight against ISIS.

Palantir said it h 125 customers in 150 countries including Airbus, Merck, Credit Suisse and Danish National Police. Just shy of half its revenues were from government ncies last year, company said.

Palantir is reported to have raised at least $2.5 billion in funding to date.

company’s first product, Gotham, was built for defense and intelligence analysts and has also been used by U.S. police ncies. It identifies patterns deep within datasets. Its or platform, Foundry, is designed to link various complicated and diverse systems into a central operating system.

In filing, Palantir said it believes current instability including “systematic failures of government institutions to provide for public” present a growth opportunity for its business. One of its current contracts with Department of Health and Human Services helps organize diverse data streams to help make sense of COVID-19 response. It has a similar contract with Britain's National Health Service.

On downside, company said a limited number of customers account for a significant amount of its revenue. Three customers make up just shy of a third of that revenue, Palantir said, without naming m. 2,398-employee company also cited as a risk factor its high dependence on CEO and co-founder Alex Karp, who it said was paid $12 million last year.

Also capable of hurting business is “unfavorable cover in media,” Palantir ackwledged, from social activism. Last year, that included picketing of Karp’s home over a company contract to upgre software used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump ministration's immigration crackdown. Campaigns on college campuses also hurt company recruitment.

Palantir initially filed for stock sale confidentially on July 6. It said in documents me public on Tuesday that it h $200 million in outstanding debt as of July 31.

Under stock listing, documents say, control of Palantir will be concentrated with company’s founders through designation of a new category of stock. It says Thiel controls 30% of Palantir’s voting power, with Karp having 9%