There are few things Alex Karp hates more than the status quo.
The controversial CEO and co-founder of Palantir Technologies (PLTR) didn't hold back his disdain for normality during the big data analytics software company's fourth-quarter earnings call.
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"We love disruption, and whatever is good for America will be good for Americans and very good for Palantir," Karp told analysts. "Disruption, at the end of the day, exposes things that aren't working. There'll be ups and down."
"There's a revolution," he added. "Some people get their heads cut off."
Palantir, which beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts, gets a major portion of its revenue from government contracts, particularly within the U.S. Department of Defense, so Karp obviously prefers seeing America's enemies getting a neck high haircut.
He said that he believed his company has made the U.S. "more lethal...making our adversaries increasingly afraid of acting against the interests of America and especially Americans."
Palantir reshapes the battlefield, arming it with high-tech
"We have dedicated our company to the service of the West and the United States of America," he said. "And we're super proud of the role we play, especially in places we can't talk about."
Palantir is here to disrupt, he said, and "make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world and when it's necessary to scare enemies and, on occasion, kill them."
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"And we hope you're in favor of that," Karp added.
He had less than charitable things to say about Europe during his talk with analysts.
"As much as I personally care about the broader West, including continental Europe, despite our best efforts and working out every day, it's anemic," he said. "It does look like the continent of Europe will look to the past as a way of getting to the future, struggles with the idea that all the valuable technology in this area is built in America."
Palantir exec offers blunt words on DOGE
During the question and answer session, Bank of America Securities analyst Mariana Perez Mora brought up the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was created by President Donald Trump and headed by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk to root out government waste.
DOGE, which has been directed to modernize federal technology and software, landed like a bomb on the nation's capital, sparking controversy and raising legal questions as the world's richest man--and Trump's biggest donor--churns through the halls of government.
Among other agencies, DOGE has targeted the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, gutting senior leadership and workforce with furloughs and firings, and closed the Washington headquarters to staffers.
“We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper," Musk said on X, formerly Twitter, the social media site he bought for $44 billion in 2022.
Musk has also turned his attention to the U.S. Department of Education and the General Services Administration, or GSA, and DOGE has gained what officials have called "read-only" access to the Treasury Department's payment systems,
A coalition of labor unions is suing the Treasury Department and Secretary Scott Bessent over disclosing Americans’ personal and financial information to Musk and DOGE.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.told USA Today that “the Musk hatchet brigade has infiltrated a gold mine of data that every foreign spy and corrupt actor would love to see," adding that "it's a prescription for nightmares."
The Palantir crowd had a different take on DOGE.
"Soldiers in war zones preferred Palantir because it worked, and it happened to only cost millions of dollars," said Shyam Sankar, Palantir's chief technology officer.
Related: Analysts overhaul Palantir stock price targets after earnings
"And I think DOGE is going to bring meritocracy and transparency to government, and that's exactly what our commercial business is."
Palantir could benefit from DOGE
Sankar, who recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, told analysts, "Palantir's real competition is a lack of accountability in government."
"These forever software projects that cost an insane amount that don't actually deliver results, they're sacred cows of the deep state," he said.
Mora and her team boosted Palantir's stock price target to $125 from $90 and said it could emerge as a winner from the DOGE wrecking ball rubble.
"While not a consensus view, we think the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could be a major opportunity for government efficiency enablers," BofA said in a research note. "We see Palantir as an enabler of efficiency and clear winner."
BofA said that if DOGE were to usher in an era of commercial-like contracting, digital-first development requirements, and agnostic and open architecture requirements; “then Palantir's portfolio and approach to government contracts is already in line.”
"The company sees the world ripe for an AI and technology revolution," the firm said. "We see PLTR enabling and leading this revolution in both Commercial and Defense markets."
Mora wrote about DOGE in November in a note entitled "Not a DOGE and pony show." She said the agency's efforts "would accelerate the ongoing trend towards more agile, commercial and competitive award strategies that were already playing out."
"We expect to see an increase of multi-vendor government-wide contracts, solutions-based & commercial terms (vs. cost plus), and continued entrance of non-traditional competitors." said BofA, noting that defense is usually in the spotlight when government spending is under pressure.
The firm said that cyberattacks accelerated considerably with the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Development of cyber-secure networks, and more advanced tools using machine learning (ML) and AI have been a priority for government agencies to combat constantly evolving cyber threats, BofA said.
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