Palantir CEO Alex Karp Sells More than $60 Million in Stock

Palantir CEO Alex Karp sold 409,072 shares in the artificial-intelligence software company last week, according to a form filed with the SEC. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp unloaded more than 400,000 shares in the data-analytics company last week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A Form 4 filed with the agency on Friday showed that Karp sold 409,072 shares of common stock, at prices ranging from $142.46 to $157.56 a share, on Wednesday and Thursday. The sales were executed through automatic transactions to cover tax-withholding obligations following the vesting of restricted stock.

Following the transactions, Karp owned about 6.43 million shares of Palantir, which were valued at more than $1 billion as of Monday afternoon.

For most of the year, Palantir stock had seemed untouchable, continuing to rise regardless of concerns about its lofty valuation and high volatility. Shares have more than doubled this year, but fell 1% to $157.17 on Monday. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, which counts Palantir among its major holdings, was off 0.7%.

Palantir’s rise has been challenged as of late. Shares of the artificial-intelligence heavyweight fell for six consecutive trading sessions through Wednesday, marking their longest losing streak since April 2024. The decline came after strong second-quarter results caused the stock to surge earlier this month.

Other big names in tech, notably AI plays such as Nvidia , have come under pressure as investors question how long the current red-hot enthusiasm will last. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s remarks that investors were “overexcited” about the technology, and an MIT report casting doubt on the revenue-generating potential of generative AI, appeared to be compounding the downturn.

Given all that, scrutiny is mounting ahead of Nvidia earnings later this week. The chip maker is seen as a bellwether for the broader AI and semiconductor industries. Commentary from CEO Jensen Huang is expected to shed light on the state of AI demand.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com