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Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR powered up 6.6% in premarket trading Tuesday, putting them on track to reach a 17-month high. The software company announced earlier the launch of Palantir Foundry for Manufacturing on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which Palantir said helps manufacturers address challenges of fragmented data systems with high barriers to access data, by allowing users to merge industrial data, decisions and operations. "In an era of increasing demands on the manufacturing sector and historic staffing shortages, it's more important than ever to help manufacturing clients unlock the power of their sensor data and AI to optimize operations," said Gabby Rojas, head of manufacturing at Palantir. The company has been caught up in the recent artificial-intelligence (AI) craze, with its stock soaring 89.8% in May. On Monday, the stock jumped 5.0% after the company said it was awarded a multiyear contract of up to $463 million from the U.S. Special Operations Command, or USSOCOM. The stock has rocketed 126.2% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR S&P Software & Services exchange-traded fund XSW has climbed 18.2% and the S&P 500 SPX has advanced 11.3%.
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Apple Inc. AAPL was downgraded to neutral from by analysts at D.A. Davidson, who reduced their price target to $185 from $193 per share following the tech giant's launch of its Vision Pro headset. "We are downgrading shares on our belief that any good news from the AR/VR [augmented reality/virtual reality] product launch is already reflected in the share price," said Tom Forte, senior research analyst, in a note to clients dated Monday. "In addition, we believe there are important structural challenges for Apple when it comes to consumer adoption of AR/VR hardware, which could limit the near-term impact on its sales and profitability." Forte said Apple's "meaningful entry" into AR/VR hardware "should serve as a catalyst of adoption," but hurdles remain. The initial price tag of $3,499 will do nothing to change a lack of consumer adoption to AR/VR gadgets, he said. The headset is too similar to a combination of top-of-the-line TV, surround-sound systems, a high-end computer with high definition monitors and a high-end camera. It's a "stretch" to believe consumers would pay more for that headset than a combination of those products, said Forte. Secondly, he said it remains to be seen what new content will be available with Vision Pro, something that's needed to make it more mainstream.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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