Palantir Technologies (PLTR) Risk Factors

Our success has been based on our ability to design software and products that enable the integration of data into a common operating environment to facilitate advanced data analysis, knowledge management, and collaboration. We spend substantial amounts of time and money researching and developing new technologies and enhanced versions of existing features to meet our customers' and potential customers' rapidly evolving needs. There is no assurance that our enhancements to our platforms or our new product features, capabilities, or offerings, including new platforms or product modules, such as AIP, will, either individually or in the aggregate, be compelling to our customers, gain market acceptance, or have a positive or material impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations, in each case in a timely or cost-effective manner. For example, we and our peers and competitors are investing more significantly in AI (including machine learning, large language and other generative AI models, and software functionality to operationalize the foregoing). There are significant risks involved in deploying AI and there can be no assurance that using AI in our platforms and products will enhance or be beneficial to our business, including our profitability. Further, other companies may develop products that are similar to ours, or adopt and implement AI more successfully or at a quicker pace than us. If our research and development investments do not accurately anticipate customer demand or if we fail to develop our platforms in a manner that satisfies customer preferences in a timely and cost-effective manner, we may fail to retain our existing customers or increase demand for our platforms. The introduction of new products and services by competitors or the development of entirely new technologies to replace existing offerings could make our platforms obsolete or adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may experience difficulties with software development, design, or marketing that delay or prevent our development, introduction, or implementation of new platforms, features, or capabilities. We have in the past experienced delays in our internally planned release dates of new features and capabilities, and there can be no assurance that new platforms, features, or capabilities will be released according to schedule. Any delays could result in adverse publicity, loss of revenue or market acceptance, or claims by customers brought against us, any of which could harm our business. Moreover, the design and development of new platforms or new features and capabilities to our existing platforms may require substantial investment, and we have no assurance that such investments will be successful. If customers do not widely adopt our new platforms,products, features, and capabilities, we may not be able to realize a return on our investment and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected. Our new and existing platforms and changes to our existing platforms could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including: - our failure to predict market demand accurately in terms of product functionality and to supply offerings that meet this demand in a timely fashion;- product defects, errors, or failures or our inability to satisfy customer service level requirements;- negative publicity or negative private statements about the security, performance, or effectiveness of our platforms or product enhancements;- delays in releasing to the market our new offerings or enhancements to our existing offerings, including new product modules;- introduction or anticipated introduction of competing platforms or functionalities by our competitors;- inability of our platforms or product enhancements to scale and perform to meet customer demands;- receiving qualified or adverse opinions in connection with security or penetration testing, certifications or audits, such as those related to IT controls and security standards and frameworks or compliance;- poor business conditions for our customers, causing them to delay software purchases;- reluctance of customers to purchase proprietary software products;- reluctance of our customers to purchase products hosted by our vendors and/or service interruption from such providers;- reluctance of customers to purchase products incorporating generative AI; and - reluctance of customers to purchase products incorporating open source software. If we are not able to continue to identify challenges faced by our customers and develop, license, or acquire new features and capabilities to our platforms in a timely and cost-effective manner, or if such enhancements do not achieve market acceptance, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may suffer and our anticipated revenue growth may not be achieved. Because we derive, and expect to continue to derive, substantially all of our revenue from customers purchasing our platforms and products, market acceptance of these platforms and products, and any enhancements or changes thereto, is critical to our success.

Our success depends in part on our ability to provide effective data security protection in connection with our technology platforms and services, and we rely on information technology networks and systems to securely store, transmit, index, and otherwise process electronic information. Because our platforms and services are used by our customers to store, transmit, index, or otherwise process and analyze large data sets that often contain proprietary, confidential, and/or sensitive information (including in some instances personal or identifying information, personal health information, government classified information, and other information subject to regulatory or statutory control or requirements), our software is perceived as an attractive target for attacks by computer hackers or others seeking unauthorized access, and our software faces threats of unintended exposure, exfiltration, alteration, deletion, loss, or unavailability of data. Additionally, because many of our customers use our platforms to store, transmit, and otherwise process proprietary, confidential, or sensitive information, and complete mission critical tasks, they have a lower risk tolerance for security vulnerabilities in our platforms and services than for vulnerabilities in other, less critical, software products and services. Our platforms and services operate in conjunction with, and we are dependent upon, third-party products and components across a broad ecosystem, including our customer environments. There have been and may continue to be significant attacks on certain third-party providers, and we cannot guarantee that our or any third-party providers' systems, networks, products or components have not been breached or that they do not contain exploitable defects or bugs that could result in a breach of or disruption to our systems and networks or the systems and networks of third parties that support or otherwise interface with us and our platforms and services. Furthermore, changes such as configurations, updates or upgrades of third-party products or services have introduced and may in the future introduce or exacerbate vulnerabilities that may compromise our systems or those of our customers. If there is a security vulnerability, error, or other bug in one of these products or components and if there is a security exploit targeting them, we could face increased costs, claims, liability, reduced revenue, and harm to our reputation or competitive position. The natural sunsetting or phasing out of third-party products and operating systems that we use requires that our infrastructure teams reallocate time and attention to migration and updates, during which period potential security vulnerabilities could be exploited. In addition, the locations or environments in which our software is deployed have expanded, and may continue to expand, including on customer networks, on-premises at customer sites, on edge devices, on mobile devices, in data centers, in colocation spaces or in other locations or environments that we do not maintain or operate. In such locations or environments, we may not have full control over how our platforms and products are deployed, managed, or secured, our standards for information security may not be met, and our ability to deploy certain security features and controls may be limited. These locations and environments may be more vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks, phishing attacks, viruses, malware, ransomware, and hacking, or similar breaches and incidents, including those from nation-state actors or affiliated actors, and such attacks could harm our customers' ability to operate and perform their obligations under our contracts, or result in increased costs or liabilities, a perceived or actual security breach of our platforms, or harm to our business and reputation. Moreover, if our platforms and products are not appropriately deployed, managed, and secured in these locations or environments, or such locations or environments are not appropriately secured or experience cybersecurity attacks or other security breaches or incidents, our platforms and products could be compromised, inappropriately accessed or acquired, or undergo unauthorized use, copying, and distribution, and reverse engineering of our intellectual property, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Further, certain of our platforms and services now allow customers to deploy their own applications in our environments, for example via our FedStart offering. These third-party applications have been built outside of our platforms or environments utilizing security procedures, techniques, and controls that may not meet our standards for information security, or may contain exploitable defects, errors, or bugs that could result in failures, disruptions, cybersecurity attacks, or other security breaches or incidents. Further, as we increase the number of customers we serve on our cloud environment, the likelihood increases that some usage of our products may occur that violates our terms of service or is otherwise improper or perceived as improper, which could cause reputational damage and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We, and the third-party vendors upon which we rely, have experienced, and may in the future experience, cybersecurity attacks and threats, including threats or attempts to disrupt our information technology infrastructure and unauthorized attempts to gain access to sensitive or confidential information. Our and our third-party vendors' technology systems have been, and in the future may be, damaged, disrupted, or compromised by harmful events, including malicious activities, natural occurrences, inadvertent errors, cybersecurity incidents or cyberattacks (including computer viruses, ransomware, and other malicious and destructive code, phishing attacks, and denial of service attacks), physical or electronic security breaches and incidents, natural disasters, fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, personnel misconduct, and human error. Such attacks or security breaches or incidents may be perpetrated by internal bad actors, such as employees or contractors, or by third parties (including traditional computer hackers, persons involved with organized crime, or foreign state or foreign state-supported actors). Cybersecurity threats can employ a wide variety of methods and techniques, may include the use of social engineering techniques or supply-chain attacks, are constantly evolving, and have become increasingly complex and sophisticated, all of which increase the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. Furthermore, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until after they are launched against a target, we and our third-party vendors may not have the capacity to immediately detect such efforts, may be unable to anticipate these techniques, or may be unable to implement adequate preventative measures. Although prior known cyberattacks directed at us have not had a material impact on our financial results, and we are continuing to bolster our threat detection and mitigation processes and procedures, our security measures may be circumvented and we cannot guarantee that past, future, or ongoing cyberattacks or other security breaches or incidents against us or a third party, if successful, will not have a material impact on our business or financial results, whether directly or indirectly. Further, the practical security prioritization decisions we make based on our assessment of potential risks may not be successful in identifying or mitigating cyberattacks or other security breaches or incidents that could result in material impacts. We have provided, and may continue to provide, our platforms, products, personnel, and services to support operations in conflict zones. Such zones are subject to, among other things, political uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and military actions, such as those associated with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel conflicts. As a result, we and our third-party vendors have been vulnerable to a heightened risk of, and increased exposure to, cybersecurity attacks, phishing attacks, viruses, malware, ransomware, hacking or similar breaches and incidents, including increasingly sophisticated threats, from nation-state actors or affiliated actors, including attacks that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell, and distribute our products and services. While we have security measures in place to protect our information and our customers' information and to prevent data loss and other security breaches and incidents, we have not always been able to do so and there can be no assurance that in the future we will be able to anticipate or prevent security breaches or incidents, or intentional or unintentional action or inaction by employees or third parties, which may result in unauthorized access of our information technology systems or the information technology systems of the third-party vendors upon which we rely. Despite our implementation of network security measures and internal information security policies, data stored on personnel computer systems is also vulnerable to similar security breaches and incidents, unauthorized tampering, bad actors, or human error. If an actual or perceived breach of security measures, unauthorized access to our system or the systems of the third-party vendors that we rely upon, or any other cybersecurity attack, threat, or incident occurs, we may face direct or indirect liability, costs, or damages, including expenses related to responding and/or alleviating an actual or perceived breach or other incident, contract termination, our reputation in the industry and with current and potential customers may be compromised, our ability to attract new customers could be negatively affected, our management's attention could be diverted, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Further, unauthorized access to our or our third-party vendors' information technology systems or data or other security breaches or incidents could result in the loss, corruption, or unavailability of information; significant remediation costs; litigation, disputes, regulatory action, or investigations that could result in damages, material fines, and penalties; indemnity obligations; interruptions in the operation of our business, including our ability to provide new product features, new platforms, or services to our customers; damage to our operation technology networks and information technology systems; and other liabilities. Moreover, our remediation efforts may not be successful. Any or all of these issues, or the perception that any of them have occurred, could negatively affect our ability to attract new customers, cause existing customers to terminate or not renew their agreements, hinder our ability to obtain and maintain required or desirable cybersecurity certifications, and result in reputational damage, any of which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and future prospects. There can be no assurance that any limitations of liability provisions in our license arrangements with customers or in our agreements with vendors, partners, or others would be enforceable, applicable, or adequate or would otherwise protect us from any such liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim. We maintain cybersecurity insurance and other types of insurance, subject to applicable deductibles and policy limits, but our insurance may not be sufficient to cover all costs associated with a potential data security incident. We also cannot be sure that our existing general liability insurance coverage and coverage for cyber liability or errors or omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or will be available in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims or that the insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim as a result of inapplicability of coverage or administrative or procedural issues. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could harm our financial condition.

We have previously been, and are currently, and from time to time going forward may become involved in and subject to regulatory or other governmental inquiries or investigations, or government or private-party litigation or proceedings for a variety of claims or disputes. These claims, lawsuits, and proceedings have involved, and could in the future involve, labor and employment, discrimination and harassment, commercial disputes, intellectual property rights (including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and other proprietary rights), class actions, general contract, tort, defamation, data privacy rights, antitrust, common law fraud, government regulation, or compliance, alleged federal and state securities and "blue sky" law violations or other investor claims, and other matters. Derivative claims, lawsuits, and proceedings involving breach of fiduciary duty, failure of oversight, corporate waste claims, and other matters have been, and may in the future be, asserted against our officers and directors by our stockholders. In addition, we and certain of our officers and directors were sued in purported class action lawsuits and derivative lawsuits. Our business and results may be adversely affected by the outcome of any currently pending or any future legal, regulatory, and/or administrative claims or proceedings, including through monetary damages or injunctive relief. The number and significance of our legal disputes and inquiries may increase as we continue to grow larger, as our business expands in employee headcount, scope, and geographic reach, and as our platforms and services become more complex. Additionally, if customers fail to pay us under the terms of our agreements, we may be adversely affected due to the cost of enforcing the terms of our contracts through litigation. Litigation or other proceedings can be expensive and time consuming and can divert our resources and leadership's attention from our primary business operations. The results of our litigation also cannot be predicted with certainty. If we are unable to prevail in litigation, we could incur payments of substantial monetary damages or fines, or undesirable changes to our platforms or business practices, and accordingly, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, if we accrue a loss contingency for pending litigation and determine that it is probable, any disclosures, estimates, and reserves we reflect in our financial statements with regard to these matters may not reflect the ultimate disposition or financial impact of litigation or other such matters. These proceedings could also result in negative publicity, which could harm customer and public perception of our business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable. Additional information regarding certain of the lawsuits we are involved in is described further in Note 7. Commitments and Contingencies in our condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Natural disasters, including climate change, or other catastrophic events may cause damage or disruption to our operations, non-U.S. commerce and the global economy, and thus could have a negative effect on us. Our business operations have been, and could in the future be, subject to interruption by natural disasters, earthquakes, flooding, fire, power shortages, pandemics (such as COVID-19), terrorism, such as Hamas' attack against Israel, political unrest, cyberattacks including as may be exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, geopolitical tensions including those related to the invasion of Ukraine, the effects of climate change such as drought, wildfires, increased storm severity, and sea level rise, telecommunications failure, vandalism, and other events beyond our control. Although we maintain crisis management and disaster response plans, such events could make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver our services to our customers, could decrease demand for our services, could make existing customers unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual requirements to us, including their payment obligations, and could cause us to incur substantial expense, including expenses or liabilities arising from potential litigation. Our insurance may not be sufficient to cover losses or additional expense that we may sustain. Customer data could be lost, significant recovery time could be required to resume operations and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected in the event of a major natural disaster or catastrophic event. In addition, the impacts of climate change on the global economy and our industry are rapidly evolving. We have been, and may continue to be, subject to increased regulations, reporting requirements, standards or expectations regarding the environmental impacts of our business. While we seek to mitigate our business risks associated with climate change, there are inherent climate-related risks wherever business is conducted. Any of our primary locations may be vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. For example, our Colorado headquarters have experienced and may continue to experience, climate-related events and at an increasing frequency, including drought, water scarcity, heat waves, wildfires and resultant air quality impacts and power shutoffs associated with the wildfires. Additionally, while some employees have returned to our offices, it will remain difficult to mitigate the impact of these events on our employees continuing to work remotely. Changing market dynamics, global policy developments and increasing frequency and impact of extreme weather events on critical infrastructure in the United States and elsewhere have the potential to disrupt our business, the business of our partners, suppliers, and customers, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain or resume operations.