"The Big Short" shorts Palantir again: This has "far exceeded the overvaluation range."

After the battle between bulls and bears at GameStop, Citron has once again targeted the new "retail darling" Palantir.

On Wednesday, Citron founder Andrew Left announced a short position on the big data company Palantir during an interview, stating that he believes the company is "far beyond the realm of overvaluation."

Left emphasized that he does not dislike the company and even likes Palantir CEO Alex Karp, but based on valuation metrics, the stock is clearly overvalued.

Left believes that the stock "needs to reach $40 or $50 to be considered truly cheap," indicating that there is still over 70% downside potential. However, he also acknowledged that the stock price may continue to rise, and he does not expect to perfectly predict the top every time.

Following the announcement of this short position, Palantir's stock price fell below its intraday high, closing down 1.4% at $184.37. So far this year, the stock has risen 145%, with a 506% increase over the past 12 months. Currently, Palantir's forward price-to-earnings ratio exceeds 200 times.

Targeted Four Years Ago, Valuation Controversy Becomes the Focus

In the interview, Left emphasized that Palantir, as a big data company, asks investors to ignore data, which is inherently contradictory. He stated:

"You cannot be a big data company and tell investors to ignore valuation metrics and multiples, which are also big data."

He also admitted that even if Palantir is the greatest company of all time and is given the highest valuation multiples, the current stock price is still too high. "The situation has become so absurd," Left said.

Left also refuted the notion that Palantir dominates the data analytics field, pointing out that there are other companies also engaged in data analytics. He mentioned the upcoming IPO of Databricks, calling it a direct competitor to Palantir but with more customers.

In fact, at the end of 2020, Left had already included Palantir in his "holiday short list," setting a year-end target price of $20, which represented over a 50% downside from the then-current stock price level.

At that time, Left tweeted:

"The past month has been a crazy market for everyone. But as a trader looking for short opportunities, PLTR is no longer a stock; it is a complete casino. You don't need to predict to know it will fall back to real levels."

However, this prediction did not come true. Fueled by the AI boom, Palantir's stock price soared starting in 2024, with valuations continuously setting new records.

In addition to shorting Palantir, Left also shared other investment views. He is optimistic about Rocket Companies, calling it a potential "Amazon of the housing sector," and expects the company to benefit from catalysts such as pent-up homebuying demand, declining mortgage rates, and the integration of AI technology.

Left stated that he has held a long position in Rocket Companies since May, believing the company's prospects are promising. At the same time, he maintains a long position in Amazon and Apple, which, along with shorting Palantir, constitutes his balanced investment portfolio strategy