Wall Street's AI fever just crowned a new star. Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR), once a niche data analytics shop, now flaunts a $396 billion market cap on just $3.3 billion in recurring revenue. Its sky-high 93x ARR multiple makes Nvidia Corp's (NASDAQ:NVDA) surge look modest and dwarfs peers like Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) and Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE), noted a chart posted on X.
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But this market worship feels eerily familiar: Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) once wore the same crown at the height of the dot-com boom – before losing nearly 90% of its value. Investors may want to ask if Palantir is truly a generational disruptor or another bubble darling waiting for gravity to kick in.
Read Also: At $412 Billion, Palantir Is Valued Like It Invented Time Travel
Dot-Com Déjà Vu
In 2000, Cisco was the undisputed king of internet infrastructure, trading at 131x forward earnings with a $546 billion valuation.
Analysts declared it unstoppable, only for the dot-com crash to wipe out most of its value, a level it's never fully recovered even after decades of growth.
Palantir's multiples echo that era, trading far above peers like Adobe's 17.6x and Salesforce's 7.1x, making it one of the most expensive names in tech.
For investors, this isn't just a hot stock—it's a reminder of how quickly hype can implode.
Hype Or History In The Making?
Palantir's numbers aren't pure fantasy. With 48% year-over-year growth, lucrative government contracts, and the runaway success of its AI platform AIP, bulls argue this premium reflects its unique position as an AI-first software powerhouse.
Still, with perfection priced in, even a slight slowdown could spark a selloff. Cisco's story serves as a cautionary tale: even when a company survives a bubble, it rarely reclaims its former glory.
Palantir might be rewriting software's future—or proving that in markets, history doesn't just rhyme, it repeats.
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