Palantir vs. BigBear.ai: What Do Their Quarterly Revenue Trends Tell Investors?
Key Points
Palantir currently demonstrates a far more consistent and upward revenue trajectory over recent financial periods when directly compared to BigBear.ai.
Palantir has expanded its total revenue sequentially quarter-over-quarter for the past eight reported periods, whereas BigBear.ai has displayed a highly volatile trend that ultimately trended downward.
Investors observing these trends should closely monitor whether the revenue gap between the two companies continues to widen or if the smaller firm can stabilize its top-line trend in upcoming quarters.
Palantir: Experiencing a Steady Upward Revenue Trend
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) builds and deploys data integration and analysis software platforms primarily for government intelligence agencies and commercial enterprises.
It secured a major defense agreement and faced a formal investor investigation, while reporting about 53% net income margin for the quarter ended March 31, 2026.
BigBear.ai: Navigating Ongoing Revenue Fluctuations
BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI) provides high-end technology consulting and predictive analytics services to help enterprise customers interpret data for decision support.
It announced new national security contracts and expanded its executive leadership team, while recording approximately -165% net income margin for the quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Why Revenue Matters for Retail Investors
Revenue serves as the fundamental starting point for evaluating how well a company generates sales before operating costs are deducted. It helps investors gauge raw business scale and growth.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Quarterly Revenue for Palantir and BigBear.ai
| Quarter (Period End) | Palantir Revenue | BigBear.ai Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2024 (June 2024) | $678.1 million | $39.8 million |
| Q3 2024 (Sept. 2024) | $725.5 million | $41.5 million |
| Q4 2024 (Dec. 2024) | $827.5 million | $43.8 million |
| Q1 2025 (March 2025) | $883.9 million | $34.8 million |
| Q2 2025 (June 2025) | $1.0 billion | $32.5 million |
| Q3 2025 (Sept. 2025) | $1.2 billion | $33.1 million |
| Q4 2025 (Dec. 2025) | $1.4 billion | $27.3 million |
| Q1 2026 (March 2026) | $1.6 billion | $34.4 million |
Data source: Company filings. Data as of May 10, 2026.
Foolish Take
Both Palantir and BigBear.ai deliver technology services to the federal government, specializing in artificial intelligence. Examining the revenue trajectories for these companies provides insight into how their businesses are faring.
The chart above shows Palantir’s sales have been soaring. For instance, in the first quarter of 2026, it delivered a whopping 85% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.6 billion.
Palantir’s trend of consistent quarter-over-quarter growth is set to continue in Q2. The company forecasts sales to come in around $1.8 billion. Its impressive ability to maintain rising revenue illustrates the success of its AI products in attracting commercial customers, and bodes well for Palantir’s business growth.
BigBear.ai’s sales have not shown the same kind of consistency despite also operating in the hot field of AI. In fact, the company experienced year-over-year sales declines throughout 2025. This trend extended into Q1 of 2026 as revenue dipped 1% year over year to $34.4 million.
The lack of sales growth is concerning, since demand for AI tech is high right now. BigBear.ai’s revenue performance reveals it isn’t capturing customer spending with its current offerings, suggesting its stock is not a good one to invest in.
Robert Izquierdo has positions in Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.