Palantir’s Quarterly Sales Grew $1.13B, More Than Salesforce

Palantir’s revenue was $1.132 billion higher in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier, $2.313 billion against $1.181 billion, by our arithmetic from its earnings releases. Salesforce, whose quarterly revenue was 4.9 times Palantir’s, added $1.109 billion on the same year-on-year basis: $11.345 billion in its quarter to 31 July 2026 against $10.236 billion, according to its release, which says $456 million of the latest quarter came from Informatica, a company it acquired.

Palantir’s 96% growth rate was about 3.1 times the 31% median of the latest growth figures reported by six enterprise software and cloud businesses, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Microsoft’s Azure, Snowflake, Datadog and SAP, by our arithmetic. Its total commercial revenue grew 113% to $1.17 billion and passed its government revenue of $1.15 billion, according to the investor presentation Palantir published on 2 November.

Six Growth Rates, Each From the Company’s Own Release

ServiceNow reported “Subscription revenues of $3,988 million in Q3 2026, representing 21% year-over-year growth”, in its release for the quarter to 30 September.

Salesforce reported revenue of $11.3 billion, up 11%, for the second quarter of its fiscal 2027, which ended on 31 July 2026; that quarter included the $456 million Informatica contribution.

Microsoft said in its release for the quarter ended 30 September 2026 that “Azure revenue increased 48%”, and that Microsoft Cloud revenue was $63.9 billion, up 30%. Microsoft recast its segments for fiscal 2027; its Agents and Infra segment had revenue of $76.8 billion, up 25%.

Snowflake reported “Product revenue of $1.49 billion in the second quarter, representing 37% year-over-year growth”, for the quarter ended 31 July 2026. Datadog’s revenue was $1.12 billion, up 36%, in its second quarter to 30 June 2026, its latest reported quarter.

SAP’s cloud revenue was €6.668 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 26%, or 25% at constant currencies, according to its quarterly statement. SAP said cloud revenue growth “was positively impacted by several quarter-specific effects, mainly a multi-quarter revenue catch-up from customers returning from financial distress”.

Business Pill · Percentiles Explained

An evergreen Business Engineer explainer on percentiles and medians, the measure used for the peer comparison here. It teaches the general idea only and does not discuss any company’s results.

What Was Posted on X

Sam Badawi posted this at 22:32 UTC on 2 November, comparing Palantir’s commercial revenue growth with ServiceNow’s and Salesforce’s. His figures match the companies’ documents: $1.17 billion and 113% for Palantir’s total commercial revenue and $1.15 billion for government revenue (investor presentation), 21% for ServiceNow’s subscription revenues and 11% for Salesforce’s revenue. Salesforce’s 11% is for its quarter to 31 July and includes a $456 million Informatica contribution, per its release.

How We Computed the Multiple

Sorted, the six rates are 11%, 21%, 26%, 36%, 37% and 48%. The median, midway between 26% and 36%, is 31%, and Palantir’s 96% is about 3.1 times that, by our arithmetic. Its commercial growth of 113% is about 3.6 times the median.

Using Microsoft Cloud’s 30% in place of Azure’s 48% lowers the median to 28%, and Palantir’s multiple becomes about 3.4. The six figures measure different things, subscription, product, cloud and total revenue, over quarters ending between 30 June and 30 September 2026, so the multiple is a rough comparison, not a like-for-like ranking.

Eight Quarters of Growth Rates

Palantir’s year-over-year growth rate rose in each of the seven quarters after the fourth quarter of 2024, according to its releases: 36%, then 39%, 48%, 63%, 70%, 85%, 93% and 96%. That is a rise of 60 percentage points, by our arithmetic.

Over each company’s last eight reported quarters, ServiceNow’s subscription revenue growth started and ended at 21%, between a low of 19% and a high of 24.5%. Datadog’s revenue growth went from 26% to 36%, and Salesforce’s from 8% to 11%, with Informatica included in its last three quarters.

The Dollars Behind the Rates

Measured in dollars rather than rates, Palantir’s year-on-year increase was not the largest in the group, by our arithmetic. Microsoft Cloud’s 30% growth on $63.9 billion implies an increase of roughly $15 billion, and SAP’s cloud revenue rose €1.378 billion from €5.290 billion; we did not convert euros into dollars.

ServiceNow’s quarterly subscription revenues rose $689 million, to $3,988 million from $3,299 million. Salesforce’s $1.109 billion increase would be $653 million without the Informatica contribution it reported, by our arithmetic. Palantir’s $1.132 billion came with quarterly revenue about one-fifth of Salesforce’s.

Commercial Passed Government

Palantir’s presentation shows commercial revenue of $1.17 billion in the third quarter, up 113% from $548 million, and government revenue of $1.15 billion, up 81% from $633 million. In the presentations for the two previous quarters, commercial revenue was the smaller of the two: $945 million against $990 million in the second quarter, and $774 million against $858 million in the first.

Commercial growth in those three quarters was 95%, 110% and 113%, and government growth 76%, 79% and 81%, as printed. Our results piece covered the US-only split, where US commercial revenue of $984 million passed US government revenue of $953 million, which the release called a first.

What Was Said on X

At 22:32 UTC on 2 November, Sam Badawi wrote on X: “Palantir’s $PLTR commercial revenue just grew 113% YoY to $1.17B, passing government at $1.15B. ServiceNow $NOW grew subscription revenue 21% last quarter while Salesforce $CRM managed 11%.” He added that Palantir “is on a different curve”.

His figures match the companies’ documents. Two points of context, ours: Salesforce’s 11% is for its quarter to 31 July, two months earlier than the other two, and it includes the Informatica contribution; and Palantir’s 113% refers to total commercial revenue, not the US-only figure of 148% in its release.

Connecting the Coverage

We have covered Palantir’s quarter from several sides. They include total contract value up 6% as revenue rose 96%, a forecast raise that fell to $378 million, a net margin that fell to 49% on a $118 million swing, how the shares traded after hours and its claim for a tuned Nvidia model.

On the peers, we covered ServiceNow’s results and its 34% fall in a week, SAP’s AI efficiency target and Datadog’s Upwind bid.

As we read it, the business lever in this comparison is commercial demand: Palantir’s commercial line, now the larger of its two, grew faster than its government line in each of the three quarters shown. That is a reading of the reported figures, not a forecast.

The Structural Read

As we read it, a growth rate and a dollar increase answer different questions: Palantir’s rate was the highest in the group, while Microsoft Cloud’s 30% on $63.9 billion implies a far larger increase in dollars, roughly $15 billion by our arithmetic.

As we read it, the eight-quarter series matters more than any single quarter: Palantir’s growth rate rose 60 points, while ServiceNow’s subscription growth ended where it started, at 21%, and Datadog’s rose 10 points.

As we read it, the comparison has a timing gap: Salesforce’s and Snowflake’s figures run to 31 July and Datadog’s to 30 June, so the September quarters of those three are not yet in the set.

Three Implications

FOR READERS COMPARING GROWTH The six peer figures measure different lines, subscription, product, cloud and total revenue; Palantir’s multiple of the median is about 3.1 using Azure and about 3.4 using Microsoft Cloud, by our arithmetic.

FOR READERS OF PALANTIR’S MIX Commercial revenue of $1.17 billion passed government revenue of $1.15 billion in the third quarter, after trailing it in the first and second, according to Palantir’s presentations.

FOR READERS OF SALESFORCE’S FIGURE Its $1.109 billion increase includes a $456 million Informatica contribution; without it the increase would be $653 million, by our arithmetic.

The Business Engineer Lens

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework AI and the Great SaaS Bifurcation.

The framework describes a software market splitting in two and puts it this way: “What emerges is a barbelled market structure where software companies must choose between racing to the commoditization floor or climbing to the embedding ceiling.”

As we read it, growth rates are one visible trace of that split: in the releases compared here, the rates ran from 11% to 96%. The framework does not discuss Palantir’s, ServiceNow’s or Salesforce’s results, and the figures alone do not show which companies sit at which end.

Related coverage: Palantir US commercial at $984M tops US government, a first · Palantir beat by $149M; at 50x sales, shares swung 8.6% · ServiceNow’s 20% drop erases $31B · Salesforce buys Rune as defense arm grows 80% · Snowflake revenue breakdown · Palantir business model explained

What Is Not Established

This piece does not say why the growth rates differ or whether they will persist. The six peer figures measure different revenue lines over quarters that end on different dates, and Palantir’s growth is measured on a smaller base than most of them. The figures are as reported in each company’s release or presentation; the median, multiples, point changes and dollar increases are our arithmetic. We make no valuation judgement, and we did not contact any of the companies.

The Bottom Line

Palantir’s quarterly revenue rose $1.132 billion in a year, slightly more than Salesforce’s $1.109 billion increase, with quarterly revenue about one-fifth of Salesforce’s. Its 96% growth rate was about 3.1 times the 31% median of six peer figures, by our arithmetic, and its commercial revenue of $1.17 billion passed government revenue of $1.15 billion.