Palantir vs Snowflake: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Palantir reported $4.5B of revenue in FY2025 and $1.6B of net income. Snowflake reported $4.7B of revenue in FY2026 and a net loss of $1.3B.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Palantir
Palantir lost money for most of its history: it reported a $1.17 billion net loss in 2020, the year it listed. It first reached GAAP profitability in Q4 2022 and has been profitable every year since: $209.8 million net income in 2023, $462.2 million in 2024 and $1.625 billion in 2025. In Q2 2026, revenue of $1.935 billion produced a 62% adjusted operating margin and $1.22 billion of adjusted free cash flow, and the company held $9.2 billion of cash and short-term Treasuries. Full-year 2026 guidance calls for $4.5-$4.7 billion of adjusted free cash flow.
Snowflake
Snowflake has grown from $96.7M of revenue in fiscal 2019 to $4.684B in fiscal 2026 while remaining GAAP unprofitable, largely because of heavy stock-based compensation. FY2026 revenue grew 29% and the GAAP net loss was $1.332B. Growth accelerated in fiscal 2027: Q2 revenue was $1.55B (+35%), product revenue $1.49B (+37%, the third straight quarter of acceleration), net revenue retention 126%, and non-GAAP operating margin 15.3%. GAAP operating loss for the quarter was $263M. On September 28, 2026 the company announced a $3.5B offering of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2029 and 2031.
Revenue and profit by year
Palantir
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $4.5B | $1.6B | 36.3% | +56.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $2.9B | $462.2M | 16.1% | +28.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2.2B | $209.8M | 9.4% | +16.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $1.9B | -$373.7M | -19.6% | +23.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $1.5B | -$520.4M | -33.7% | +41.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | $1.1B | -$1.2B | -106.7% | +47.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | $742.6M | -$579.6M | -78.1% | +24.7% | Source |
| FY2018 | $595.4M | -$580M | -97.4% | — | Source |
Snowflake
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $4.7B | -$1.3B | -28.4% | +29.2% | Source |
| FY2025 | $3.6B | -$1.3B | -35.5% | +29.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $2.8B | -$836.1M | -29.8% | +35.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $2.1B | -$796.7M | -38.6% | +69.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $1.2B | -$679.9M | -55.8% | +106.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $592M | -$539.1M | -91.1% | +123.6% | Source |
| FY2020 | $264.7M | -$348.5M | -131.6% | +173.9% | Source |
| FY2019 | $96.7M | -$178M | -184.2% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Palantir
- Government
51% (Q2 2026: $990M)
Software for U.S. and allied defense, intelligence and civil agencies. U.S. government revenue was $809 million in Q2 2026, up 90%.
- Commercial
49% (Q2 2026: $945M)
Foundry and AIP for enterprises. U.S. commercial revenue was $764 million in Q2 2026, up 149%.
Snowflake
- Product Revenue (Compute, Storage, Data Transfer)~96%
Usage-based revenue from customers consuming Snowflake compute, storage and data transfer, including AI and data engineering services. Product revenue was $1.49B of $1.55B total in Q2 fiscal 2027.
- Professional Services and Other~4%
Consulting, onboarding and training services that help enterprise customers deploy and migrate workloads to the platform.
Business model and strategy
Palantir
How it makes money
Palantir earns money by licensing and hosting four software platforms under multi-year contracts. Gotham serves defense and intelligence agencies; Foundry integrates operational data for companies; Apollo deploys and updates software across cloud, on-premise and classified environments; and AIP connects large language models to customer data through Palantir's Ontology.
Growth strategy
Palantir's growth plan rests on three things: AIP bootcamps that turn pilots into production contracts in days, larger defense programs (Maven Smart System, TITAN, Army enterprise agreements), and expansion within existing customers. U.S. commercial customer count rose to 653 in Q2 2026, up 35% year over year, and total customers reached 1,049.
Competitive advantage
Palantir's edge combines security accreditation, entrenched deployments and the Ontology data model. Its software is accredited for classified U.S. government work, which new entrants spend years trying to earn. Programs such as the Army's TITAN ground station ($178.4 million award in 2024) and the Maven Smart System put Palantir deep inside military workflows, which raises switching costs.
Snowflake
How it makes money
Snowflake runs a consumption-based cloud data platform on top of AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Customers are billed for compute (virtual warehouses, Snowpark, Cortex AI and other services, metered in credits), for storage per terabyte per month, and for data transfer. Most large customers sign multi-year capacity commitments and draw them down as they use the platform;
Growth strategy
Under CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy, Snowflake is positioning itself as the data layer for enterprise AI agents. It is adding AI services (Cortex AI, Cortex Agents and Snowflake Intelligence), developer tools (Snowpark, Streamlit, Snowflake Postgres) and open-format support (Apache Iceberg).
Competitive advantage
Snowflake's main advantages are that it runs the same platform across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, which reduces lock-in to a single hyperscaler, and that storage and compute scale independently, so customers pay only for compute while it runs. Secure data sharing and the Snowflake Marketplace let separate organizations query the same live data without copying it, which creates network effects.
Questions about Palantir vs Snowflake
Which company has higher revenue — Palantir Technologies Inc. or Snowflake Inc.?
Palantir Technologies Inc. reported $4.5B (FY2025), while Snowflake Inc. reported $4.7B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Snowflake Inc. is the larger business, with Palantir Technologies Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Palantir Technologies Inc. vs Snowflake Inc.?
Palantir Technologies Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $447.0B, while Snowflake Inc.'s is $118.0B. Palantir Technologies Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Snowflake Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Palantir Technologies Inc. or Snowflake Inc.?
Palantir Technologies Inc. generates $1.01M / employee in revenue per employee, while Snowflake Inc. generates $517k / employee. Palantir Technologies Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Palantir Technologies Inc. and Snowflake Inc. make money?
Palantir Technologies Inc. and Snowflake Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Palantir Technologies Inc.: Palantir earns money by licensing and hosting four software platforms under multi-year contracts. Snowflake Inc.: Snowflake runs a consumption-based cloud data platform on top of AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Palantir Technologies Inc. or Snowflake Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Palantir Technologies Inc. trades at 99.9x P/S and Snowflake Inc. at 25.2x P/S. Palantir Technologies Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Snowflake Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Palantir Technologies Inc. bigger than Snowflake Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Snowflake Inc. ($4.7B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Palantir Technologies Inc. ($4.5B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Palantir vs Snowflake overview