The AI-focused Palantir joins a group of less than 50 public American companies worth at least $200 billion, quite the turn of events for the government contractor worth less than $20 billion two years ago.

Palantir surged more than 23% in premarket trading after reporting stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results and guidance driven by AI CEO and co-founder Alex Karp called the momentum within its commercial and government segments "unlike anything that has come before.

Palantir executives welcomed the advent of low-cost artificial intelligence. Other software stocks could also see benefits from cheaper AI.

In the 17 reporting periods since it became public, Palantir has beaten the analyst consensus for sales in all but one quarter.

Palantir Technologies stock was soaring after the company posted a big beat with its fourth-quarter results on Monday afternoon. Earnings per share were up annually by 75% to 14 cents, compared with Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 11 cents,

A woman walking past the Palantir Technologies logo during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 19, 2023. Shares of software platform company Palantir (PLTR) soared close to 27% during Tuesday morning trading.

Palantir (PLTR) is one of the top-performing S&P 500 Index ($SPX) stocks, rising by an impressive 513% over the past year. This notable growth in PLTR stock reflects the strong demand for the data analytics and software company’s solutions.