Palantir and Snowflake Provide the Backbone of Agentic AI but Which Is Better?

By Alex Sirois Published Aug 21, 7:45AM EDT

Quick Read

Palantir (PLTR) posted a 155% Rule of 40 score while Snowflake (SNOW) delivered its strongest sequential dollar gain with 34% product revenue growth.
Palantir's closed stack generates $1.22 billion in free cash flow; Snowflake's open ecosystem strategy produced negative $326 million in GAAP operating income.
Palantir suits near-term momentum traders at 68x price-to-sales, while Snowflake rewards patient investors as its agentic ecosystem compounds toward 2027.
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Palantir and Snowflake Provide the Backbone of Agentic AI but Which Is Better? — © 24/7 Wall St.

Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) and Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) both just reported quarters that reframed how agentic AI actually reaches enterprises. Palantir sells operational control over workflows. Snowflake sells the governed data plane where agents run. Their results make sense to compare now because AI capital is rotating from GPUs into the software layer that turns tokens into revenue.

Sovereign AI Powers Palantir. Cortex Code Reignites Snowflake.

Palantir put up numbers that look uncomfortable for skeptics. Revenue reached $1.94 billion, up 92.83% year over year, with EPS of $0.41 against a $0.28 consensus. U.S. commercial revenue jumped 149% to $764 million, driven by AIP deployments. Alex Karp framed the strategy bluntly: “Demand for AI sovereignty has now been unleashed.” That is the whole thesis in one line.

Snowflake told a different, more measured story. Product revenue hit $1.33 billion, growing 34%, its strongest sequential dollar gain ever. Cortex Code (COCO) is now live in more than 7,100 accounts, and Snowflake Intelligence accounts more than doubled quarter over quarter. Sridhar Ramaswamy called it a “milestone quarter” and positioned the platform as “the control plane for the Agentic Enterprise.”

Business Driver	Palantir	Snowflake
Growth Engine	AIP, sovereign AI, ontology	Cortex Code, Snowflake Intelligence
GAAP Operating Margin	47%	negative
Net Retention	157%	126%

Closed Loop Versus Open Ecosystem

Palantir is doubling down on a closed, deeply integrated stack: ontology, agent orchestration, forward-deployed engineers, customer-controlled weights. The Rule of 40 score of 155% and free cash flow of $1.22 billion show what that concentration produces when it works.

Snowflake is doing the opposite. It signed a $6 billion multi-year AWS agreement, expanded its OpenAI relationship, brought SAP to general availability, and announced the Natoma acquisition to extend agents into Slack, JIRA, and Google Docs. Openness is the pitch. The cost is real: GAAP operating income was negative $326 million.

What I Want To See By Year End

For Palantir, I want to see whether U.S. commercial can hold anywhere near 134% guided growth while stock-based comp of $265 million a quarter stops eating so much of the story. For Snowflake, the tell is COCO monetization. Management already flagged AI products carry lower gross margin, so Cortex needs to keep pulling core platform consumption higher to justify the $308.93 average analyst target.

Palantir For Momentum, Snowflake For Patience

You are really picking a temperament here. Palantir looks like the better pure momentum vehicle after a 31.13% one-month move, though at 68x price-to-sales the valuation leaves little margin for error. Snowflake fits me better as a patient position: 64.93% higher over a year, still loss-making, but with an open ecosystem that could compound. Palantir looks tuned for near-term momentum, while Snowflake’s setup rewards patience as the agentic layer matures into 2027.

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About the Author Alex Sirois →

Alex Sirois is a financial writer with experience spanning both retail and institutional investing. He has written for InvestorPlace and held roles at BNY Mellon and Bernstein, giving him a perspective that bridges Main Street portfolios and Wall Street analysis.

Alex holds an MBA from George Washington University and has built his career across multiple industries, including e-commerce, education, and translation — a breadth of experience that informs how he breaks down complex financial topics for everyday investors. His writing is conversational, actionable, and grounded in long-term, buy-and-hold investing principles.

At 247 Wall St., Alex focuses on delivering analysis that is both accessible and useful, with a clear emphasis on helping readers make more informed decisions with their money.