To The Moon

Palantir Attracts Biggest Option Trade as Dan Ives Sees $1T Market Cap

$Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$   attracted the biggest option block trade in the first half of trading Tuesday, with a transaction that could pay off should the stock extend its rally well beyond this year's 125% gain. 

A Palantir bull paid a $16.83 million premium for call options that give their holder the right to buy 1.726 million shares at $180 in 45 days. That strike price signals the buyer's optimism that the stock could climb well above its current level of $170.88 before the out-of-the-money contract expires on Jan. 16.

That block trade is almost double the premium paid for the second biggest transaction involving $Intel(INTC)$   call options that give their holder the right to buy shares of the legacy chipmaker at $50 each in 107 days. It's also more than twice the premium for $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$  's $440 call options.  

The bullish Palantir transaction was posted as the stock advanced 1.7%, outpacing a 0.4% rise for the tech heavy $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$   and a 0.1% increase for the benchmark $S&P 500(.SPX)$  . 

Last night, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said on CNBC’s Fast Money that now is the time to “triple down” on the stock, as he predicted that Palantir's market capital could climb to $1 trillion over the next three years, from its current level of $409 billion.

Ives leaned on the company's bright prospects, as he defended the high premium investors are paying for Palantir shares. After the huge run up, the stock is now trading at 172X estimated 2026 earnings. That's much pricier than AI favorite Nvidia, which trades at 24X next year's earnings. 

“I get that it's super expensive, and it's become sort of an emotional bull-bear debate,” Ives said. “Palantir is the first call” for companies spending on AI on an enterprise level, he said. 

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