Palantir Inks A New Deal With A Familiar Friend
+ they won a new award
Welcome back to DailyPalantir! In today’s newsletter, we discuss Palantir price action, the new HHI deal we got, and an award/partnership. Let’s get into it!
Palantir Price Action Today
Okay, so Palantir had a tough few days, falling about 4%. Why is this happening?
Inflation is continuing to be sticky, fed chair Jerome Powell today said he needs more signs of inflation coming down, meaning rates will continue to stay high
Iran-Israel conflict over the weekend has led to more geopolitical instability, leading to markets questioning if now is the best time to buy risk on assets like Palantir
Many people have asked if the Iran conflict is good for Palantir — I am sure Palantir is being used in some capacity in the conflict and helping Israel successfully deter missiles, but I doubt it would be anything to the point where they get some massive contract given it seems like the conflict will be resolved and not be the smart of something much bigger (we’ll see over the coming weeks how it plays out.) As a result, no short term impact will happen on the stock.
Palantir has nicely stayed above the $21.50 level, and with earnings coming up — I actually think it’s good to see us calm down a bit vs. being at all time highs leading into earnings.
HHI Deal
Palantir signed a new partnership with HD Hyundai Industries — a company they have been working with for a few years now.
The deal below:
The memorandum of understand (MoU) for the development of USVs was signed at Palantir’s office in Washington D.C. on April 14. Key representatives from both companies participated in the signing ceremony: Dr. Won-ho Joo, Chief Executive of HD HHI’s Naval and Special Ship Business Unit, and Mr. Ryan Taylor, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) of Palantir Technologies.
Palantir is a leading defense AI company in the United States, serving the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army. It has also participated in modernizing integrated combat systems for the U.S. Navy in partnership with Lockheed Martin, the world’s leading defense company.
Under the agreement, both companies aim to develop a reconnaissance USV by 2026, with plans to expand into combat USVs later. To achieve this, HD HHI’s autonomous navigation subsidiary Avikus will provide autonomous navigation software and integrate Palantir’s Mission Autonomy technology. HD HHI will handle the integration of advanced equipment and the development of high-performance hulls for the USV.USVs are increasingly recognized as essential assets for various missions, including surveillance, mine detection and removal, and combat, particularly in hazardous areas. They are already deployed in actual combat situations as asymmetric forces. Current USVs face challenges in rough conditions and do not match the capabilities of manned vessels. Through this agreement, the companies aim to leverage their accumulated autonomous navigation technology and advanced defense AI to develop a distinctive model that can overcome those challenges.
The companies plan to optimize USV models for the needs of the US and Korean markets, expecting that the broad adoption of USVs will enable comprehensive management of operational environments through AI platforms.
Why is this deal important?
So first, let’s remember what Palantir’s relationship is with HHI.
They began working together in 2022. The partnership aims to integrate Foundry into HHI's shipbuilding operations, thereby optimizing safety and operational efficiency.
The significance of this partnership lies in the potential for technological innovation within the shipyard manufacturing sector. Shipbuilding is an industry that underpins global commerce, facilitating international trade through the construction and maintenance of vessels. By introducing advanced data analytics and decision-making tools like Palantir Foundry, HHI can expect to see improvements in various aspects of their operations, from architectural design to production line quality.
For Palantir, it signifies an expansion into new industrial territories beyond its existing portfolio in sectors such as automotive and logistics. For HHI, it demonstrates a commitment to embracing digital transformation within its traditional manufacturing processes.
Essentially, what Palantir was able to do with skywise for the airline industry is exactly what I believe they are trying to do with HHI (HQ in South Korea) for the shipbuilding industry. All the subcontractors and vendors in the space are integrated into Foundry like they are in the airline industry with the idea of having one centralized operating system for everything to function.
So, why does this new deal matter?
This is about taking that partnership to the next level and working in Naval defense by creating unmanned surface vehicles, also known as sea drones, which are ships that operate on the surafce of the water without the need for a crew.
We’ve seen Palantir get a few defense contracts over the past month, but this partnership is further extending their relationship with HHI and penetrating their reach into the South Korean government. This deal is not with the government, but the intention of the deal is to eventually sell this type of ship to the government.
In order to effectively build such a vehicle, there is a heavy amount of data integration that lies at the heart of the software needed to make USV’s effective, and HHI has chosen Palantir to be their partner to work with.
They have a $45M, 5 year deal in place since 2021. This deal doesn’t add any new public numbers, but it does show that the commercial partnership is going so well, that now the idea of building naval defense ships is possible. It also shows the “shipwise” vision Palantir has with HHI may happen as HHI is the “Airbus” of this operating system with all other vendors beneath them building on top of shipwise with Foundry.
Deals like this are why I get so excited to be a Palantir investor. They are everywhere doing everything.
New Award
Arny posted that Palantir got a new award/partnership in integrating data to be able to solve some of the challenges we have in the world of climate change:
It got me thinking…
Palantir and energy is something we talk about in the context of their commercial partners, but when I think of the problem of climate change globally, I do think it is a big data problem at the end of the day. Predicting and simultaing potential solutions to climate change, which I believe must be done with an emphasis on innovation vs. de growth, will likely require a massive data analytics platform in order to scale to live up to the challenges.
Through the aggregation and analysis of climate-related data sets—including emission levels, energy consumption statistics, deforestation rates, and more—Palantir's software can help identify patterns and predict future environmental impacts. This predictive capability is crucial for developing proactive strategies to mitigate adverse effects on the environment.
Moreover, Palantir’s tools could assist in optimizing resource allocation for renewable energy projects by analyzing geographical information systems (GIS) data alongside weather patterns to determine optimal locations for wind farms or solar panels. By enabling more efficient use of resources and better planning of sustainable infrastructure projects, Palantir contributes towards reducing carbon footprints.
I think there’s a massive opportunity when it comes to climate change — now it would likely require many more companies needing some type of software to measure their carbon emissions and governments across the world caring more deeply about it in order to procure software that can focus on solving the issue, but if the climate change becomes that big of an issue, then I would imagine demand for Palantir’s services to contextualize and manage all of that data would be evident.
That’s it for today - see you tomorrow!
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