Shorting Palantir or Inuit: Which One Makes Sense Right Now?

By Trey Thoelcke Published Apr 17, 6:40AM EDT

Quick Read

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and Intuit (INTU) are both under pressure in 2026, but which one offers a more compelling case to bet against right now?
Intuit has real risks, but the market has already done much of the shorting work. Palantir presents the stronger short case on fundamentals, insider activity, and short mechanics.
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Shorting Palantir or Inuit: Which One Makes Sense Right Now? — © 24/7 Wall St.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) and Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) are both under pressure in 2026. The question for short-focused investors is which one offers a more compelling case to bet against right now. The answer matters because these two stocks carry very different risk profiles for a short position.

Valuation: Palantir Is in a Different Universe

Palantir trades at a trailing P/E of 226x and a forward P/E of 110x, with a price-to-sales ratio of 76x. Its $341 billion market cap sits against $4.475 billion in FY2025 revenue, implying the market is pricing in years of flawless execution. Even with FY2026 revenue guidance of $7.182 billion to $7.198 billion, that forward multiple remains extreme.

Intuit, by contrast, trades at a trailing P/E of 25x and a forward P/E of 18x, with a price-to-sales ratio of 5.4x. After a 41.6% year-to-date decline and a 34.2% drop over the past year, the stock has already repriced substantially. On valuation grounds, Palantir presents the more extreme multiple compression risk. Intuit’s multiple has already compressed.

Insider Activity: Coordinated Selling Versus Routine RSU Mechanics

Palantir’s insider transaction data is striking. Peter Thiel sold over 2 million shares in a single day on March 2, 2026, across a price range of $140.97 to $146.80. On February 20, CEO Alex Karp, director Stephen Cohen, and multiple senior officers, including Shyam Sankar, all executed coordinated Class A share disposals at prices between $132 and $135. The dataset shows zero open-market purchases by any executive at current price levels. Director Alexander Moore continued selling in March at $151 to $153, higher than his February sales.

Intuit’s April 1 insider activity is more nuanced. The CEO, CFO, and four other senior executives all disposed of common stock at $432.38 on the same date, but the transactions occurred alongside RSU vesting and conversion mechanics typical of scheduled compensation events.

The pattern at Palantir, particularly Thiel’s multi-million-share liquidation and the absence of any insider buying, is the stronger bearish signal. Palantir presents the stronger bearish signal on this dimension.

Short Mechanics: Dividend Risk and Buyback Support

Shorting a stock that pays a dividend means the short seller owes that dividend to the lender. Intuit pays $4.48 per share annually, with a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share that increased 15% year over year. On top of that, Intuit has $3.5 billion remaining in its share buyback authorization, with $961 million repurchased in Q2 FY2026 alone. Buybacks structurally support the share price and create headwinds for short positions.

Palantir pays no dividend and repurchased only $74.985 million in shares during all of FY2025, a negligible amount relative to its market cap. There is no dividend cost for the short seller, and no meaningful buyback program to fight. Palantir presents fewer structural headwinds for a short position on this dimension.

Verdict

On valuation, insider activity, and short mechanics, Palantir presents a more pronounced set of bearish signals than Intuit. Its 226x trailing P/E and 76x price-to-sales ratio price in perfection across multiple years. The stock is down 19.7% year to date but remains far above levels where fundamentals justify the multiple. Coordinated insider selling from the CEO, co-founder, and multiple directors, combined with zero insider buying, adds conviction. The absence of a dividend removes a key short-cost headwind.

Intuit has real risks, including decelerating growth guided at 12% to 13% for FY2026 and the AI disruption narrative crystallized by a viral Reddit post titled “Claude just did my taxes. $INTU is cooked” that drew nearly 5,000 upvotes on r/wallstreetbets. But the stock has already absorbed a brutal correction. Its 18x forward P/E and analyst consensus target of $599.51 against a current price of $387.11 suggest the market has already done much of the shorting work. Fighting a dividend, a $3.5 billion buyback, and an 80% bullish analyst consensus with zero Sell ratings makes Intuit a costly and low-conviction short.

Palantir presents the stronger short case on fundamentals, insider activity, and short mechanics.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.