Goldman Sachs Upgrades Palantir to Buy With $230 Target, Citing Sovereign AI

Goldman Sachs upgraded PLTR to Buy from Neutral on October 8, 2026, with a 12-month price target of $230, about 18% above Wednesday's close. Analyst Gabriela Borges argued the company is setting up for another phase of outperformance into 2027, driven by sovereign AI, bespoke applications and Palantir's newer verticalization strategy. Goldman also noted that rivals including Microsoft, Salesforce and Snowflake are trying to copy Palantir's forward-deployed engineering model, but said Palantir has a head start.

The stock rose about 3% to $199.13 in morning trading, which trimmed the upside to the new target to about 15.5% and left shares roughly 3% below their all-time high of $207.18. Goldman's case leans on an $8 billion revenue run rate growing about 100%, an 85% gross margin and a PEG ratio of 0.53. Palantir has gained about 16% this year, behind the Nasdaq-100's 24%, though it is up 38% over six months.

The fundamentals behind the call are already on the record. In Q2 2026 Palantir grew revenue 93% year over year to $1.94 billion, with U.S. commercial revenue up 149% to $764 million and U.S. government revenue up 90% to $809 million, alongside a 62% adjusted operating margin and $1.2 billion of adjusted free cash flow. The valuation is the counterweight: the stock trades around 78 to 80 times sales and about 160 times earnings.

What to watch: Palantir's Q3 report for whether U.S. commercial growth holds near triple digits, evidence of sovereign AI contracts that support Goldman's thesis, and whether the stock can clear its $207.18 record.