Palantir’s Bookings Worry Is Dragging Down These Widely Held ETFs
Palantir beat on revenue and earnings, yet its stock tumbled anyway, and the fallout quietly clipped the returns of millions of investors who never bought a single share of PLTR.
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Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) dropped 4.89% in Tuesday’s regular trading, recently changing hands at $169.62 by 10:31 AM ET. The drop followed a third-quarter earnings report that beat estimates on revenue and profit but showed bookings growth slowing sharply. Analysts pointed to a slowdown in total contract value. Part of this selloff hit the accounts of investors holding a Nasdaq-100 or technology sector fund.
Revenue Beat, Bookings Slowed
Revenue came in at $2.313 billion against a $2.181 billion estimate, up 95.87% year over year. Adjusted EPS of $0.44 exceeded the $0.4072 consensus. Management also raised full-year revenue guidance to $8.530 billion to $8.534 billion.
Bookings measure the value of new contracts a company signs during a quarter. Revenue shows the work already delivered. Bookings show what customers have agreed to pay for down the road, so investors use them to gauge future revenue. Palantir reports this figure as total contract value (TCV).
TCV came in at $2.918 billion, up just 6% year over year. U.S. commercial TCV grew 11% to $1.463 billion, compared with 153% growth in the second quarter. Total TCV growth has slowed from +138% in Q4 2025 to +61%, then +49%, and now +6%.
Management blamed shorter contract terms. Dave Glazer, the company’s finance chief, said, “We signed multiple eight-figure deals in the quarter that were shorter in duration than usual as customers rapidly adopted initial Sovereign AI capabilities in their enterprise.” Total remaining deal value reached $13.4 billion, up 55%, and net dollar retention was 165%.
Widely Held ETFs That Own Palantir
Based on the funds’ most recent portfolio filings, dated June 30, 2026, here is how much Palantir two of the biggest growth ETFs hold:
| ETF | Palantir Weight | Palantir Position Value | Today’s Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) | 1.16% | $5.69 billion | +0.63% |
| Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLK) | 1.49% | $1.85 billion | +1.15% |
QQQ had net assets of $490.1 billion. XLK had $123.9 billion. Palantir has a larger weight in XLK because that fund holds only technology stocks.
What the Drop Cost These Funds Today
At the June 30 weights, a 4.89% decline takes roughly 0.06 percentage points off QQQ and about 0.07 percentage points off XLK. Gains in other holdings more than covered it. QQQ traded at $685.41 and XLK at $176.23.
The bigger background is a tech pullback already in progress. QQQ is down 8.56% over the past month, and XLK is down 11.8%. A miss on a growth signal from a high-multiple holding makes it harder for these funds to recover.
For S&P 500 investors, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) slipped from $755.16 when the results came out to $754.24, a dip of about 0.12%. Palantir isn’t among SPY’s 10 largest disclosed holdings. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO), with a 0.03% expense ratio, tracks the same index, so it has a similar small exposure.
Overlap Risk for Retirement Accounts
Many 401(k) and IRA portfolios combine an S&P 500 core fund with QQQ or a tech sector fund, which adds to their Palantir exposure. A portfolio split evenly between QQQ and XLK holds about 1.33% in Palantir before considering any S&P 500 fund. iShares warns that concentrated funds face “an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole”.
Valuation makes this exposure more sensitive. Palantir trades at 252 times earnings, so small changes in growth expectations can move the stock sharply (riding a stretched multiple is fine as long as you plan the exit, and our free bubble survivor’s handbook covers both halves). Stock-based compensation rose to $318.9 million from $172.3 million, and accounts receivable climbed to $1.883 billion from $1.042 billion.
What to Watch Next
Palantir guided fourth-quarter revenue to $2.649 billion to $2.653 billion. Investors in the funds will want to see whether TCV growth picks up again and whether contract terms get longer, as management expects. The fund weights above date from June 30, so check each fund’s current holdings page to see your actual Palantir exposure.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Ryne Mauck is an investment writer covering exchange-traded funds, retirement planning, and portfolio strategy. Through his work at 24/7 Wall St. and other investment platforms, including Seeking Alpha, he aims to provide clear, research-driven insights that help investors make more informed decisions while maintaining a long-term approach to investing.
Ryne holds a B.Sc. in Finance and an M.A. in Political Science. He is a formerly registered Municipal Advisor Representative and has passed the Series 50, Series 63, and Series 65 exams. His articles are not intended to be, nor should they be interpreted as, financial advice.
