WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Data analysis specialist Palantir
announced on Tuesday it would begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on
September 30 in what could be one of the biggest market debuts since Uber.
The secretive company which sells software used by governments and large
firms worldwide said in a statement it “expects that trading of shares of its
Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange will commence on
Wednesday, September 30, 2020.”
In an earlier filing, Palantir, which hasn’t turned a profit, indicated it
would go public via a direct listing without raising new funds, listing its
shares at $0.001 on the exchange on or around September 29.
That filing suggested a valuation of some $10 billion, down from a private
value as high as $25 billion, according to Renaissance Capital.
Founded in 2003, the Colorado-based company has said its software is used
in more than 150 countries, and that it took in revenue of $742.6 million
last year while logging a net loss of $579.6 million.
In the first half of this year, Palantir reported that it has generated
$481.2 million with a loss of $164.7 million.
It stressed its mission of working with military and intelligence agencies
and revealed it plans to trade under the symbol “PLTR” in New York.
Created after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks with initial funding
from a CIA venture-capital unit, Palantir software is used by institutions
ranging from defense agencies to companies in the energy, manufacturing and
healthcare sectors.
Palantir’s predictive analytics platform reportedly helped the US military
locate Osama bin Laden and track weapons movements in the Middle East.