Riding Palantir: Trade the Momentum or Tap the Brakes?

2025 has been a breakout year for Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR), with the company shattering quarterly records and dominating headlines. In the latest Q2 earnings call (August 4, 2025), Palantir exceeded $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time—a 48% jump year-over-year—propelled by astonishing growth in the US commercial segment (up 93% YoY) and US government business (up 53% YoY). Net income surged to $327 million (33% margin), and adjusted EPS of $0.16 beat average analyst forecasts. Palantir’s Rule of 40 score—a key growth/profitability metric—hit an absurdly high 94%.

Year-to-date (YTD), PLTR stock has skyrocketed 141%, hitting an all-time high of $186.96 in August. This comes amid contracts such as a $10 billion US Army software deal and hundreds of millions from federal contracts, keeping the hype—and scrutiny—at fever pitch. Next Event: Earnings Q3 2025 (3 Nov, 2025).

Exchange-traded ways to ride (or hedge) Palantir

The PLTR move has spawned a cluster of single-stock ETFs and leveraged wrappers aimed at traders who want concentrated exposure without buying shares directly:

PTIR (GraniteShares 2x Long PLTR Daily ETF) — designed to deliver 2× the daily performance of PLTR (before fees). It’s a short-term trading vehicle with an elevated expense load (roughly 1.15%), and is intended for intraday/short-horizon use rather than buy-and-hold.

PLTW (Roundhill PLTR WeeklyPay ETF) — an actively managed product launched in early 2025 that targets ~1.2× weekly returns to PLTR and pays weekly distributions; expense ratio around 0.99% and assets gathering traction since launch. Its structure (swaps + stock) and weekly distribution feature make it attractive to income-seeking, short-term speculators but bring counterparty and compounding considerations.

PLTD (Direxion Daily PLTR Bear 1X Shares) — offers inverse (−1×) daily exposure to PLTR for traders wanting a direct short alternative; gross/net expense ratios sit near 0.97% and AUM is meaningful but far smaller than broad market ETFs. Like all daily inverse funds, its path-dependent returns can diverge from expected longer-term performance if volatility is high.

Macro View: Hype Meets Reality

Palantir’s rapid ascent has attracted both Wall Street enthusiasm (with price targets raised by major banks) and warnings about valuation: PLTR trades at over 74x projected 2026 sales, raising the stakes for future growth and contract execution. Despite a 5% pullback in the last week, the YTD rally remains intact, signaling traders still favor PLTR’s “AI & defense” narrative.

For leveraged ETFs like PTIR, 2025’s epic run means outsized gains for nimble traders, but caution for long-term holders. The upside can vanish quickly if Palantir’s momentum stalls. PLTW offers high yield as compensation for this risk, but is subject to the same directional exposure.

Final Take: Navigate with Clarity

Palantir’s record-breaking earnings and YTD performance have put it—and its related ETFs—on every trader’s radar. For retail investors, understanding the risks, costs, and volatility inherent in leveraged and thematic ETFs is essential. Hype has fueled extraordinary returns, but the competitive macro environment means turbulence is inevitable. Stay focused, know your risk, and expect more big moves—up or down.

Quickly determine which Palantir ETF: PTIR, PLTW, PLTD is right for you with our ETF Compare Tool