** Shares of Palantir Technologies edging down 0.7% to $41.63 as data analytics firm slated to report Q3 results after the bell, and set to test lofty valuation
** For Sept qtr, Wall Street expects co to post rev of $701.1 mln, up 25.6% yr/yr, and adj EPS of 9 cents compared to 7 cents a yr-ago, according to LSEG data
** PLTR has surged ~75% since Q2 report, when co raised annual forecasts for second time this year due to generative AI boom driving demand for its software services
** In Sept, co joined the S&P 500 . Its stock has gained ~140% YTD and is third best performer in benchmark index, trailing only Vistra's ~200% gain and Nvidia's ~180% advance
** PLTR trading at ~100x next twelve months earnings vs its 2-yr avg of ~62x, per LSEG
** 20 analysts cover PLTR and recommendation breakdown is 4 "strong buy" or "buy", 10 "hold" and 6 "sell" or "strong sell" ratings
** Median PT of $29.51 implies 30% downside to stock's current levels
** PLTR options imply a 13.6% swing for the shares, in either direction by Fri, per Trade Alert data; the stock has logged an avg move of 17.1% on the day after results over the last eight qtrs
(Reporting by Lance Tupper and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))

