MW Palantir's stock has dropped a third from its peak. Michael Burry has a new line of attack.

By Steve Goldstein

CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026. Michael Burry has a new line of attack against Palantir.

With Palantir Technologies' stock now down nearly a third from its peak, Michael Burry has a new line of attack against the AI-services company.

Burry, the former hedge-fund manager chronicled in "The Big Short" for his bets against the housing market during the subprime-mortgage crisis, went through Palantir's 10-K and called out the fact that accounts receivable have been growing faster than revenue for nine of the last 12 quarters.

Burry, who has disclosed he's shorting the stock, called it "a persistent pattern generally attached to nefarious tricks such as channel stuffing, aggressive revenue recognition, or extended payment terms used as sales concessions."

He said accounts receivable should track revenue growth closely. "When AR is volatile or outgrows revenue, it means the company is booking sales faster than it is collecting cash," said Burry in a Substack posting.

Palantir was approached for comment. Palantir CEO Alex Karp has been a critic of short sellers generally and Burry in particular, calling him "crazy" and his behavior egregious.

Channel stuffing refers to the practice of boosting sales by artificially discounting or extending payment terms. In one example, Bristol-Myers Squibb settled a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint in 2004 in which the regulator alleged it stuffed its distribution channels with excess inventory near the end of every quarter.

Palantir, it should be noted, is highly profitable and is rapidly growing its revenue. Margins from what it calls adjusted income from operations were 50% last year and 57% in the fourth quarter alone.

The valuation, however, is still extreme at 99.6 times next 12-month earnings, according to FactSet. That's about five times as high as the typical S&P 500 company valuation.

Palantir shares (PLTR) edged up 0.5% in early premarket trade. The stock has lost 24% this year and is down 32% from its November peak, right around the time Burry closed his hedge fund ahead of launching his Substack.

-Steve Goldstein

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February 19, 2026 06:39 ET (11:39 GMT)

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