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2021-06-10

All the way

Palantir Puzzle Pieces: SPACs, IBM And Healthcare

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{"i18n":{"language":"zh_CN"},"detailType":1,"isChannel":false,"data":{"magic":2,"id":189433664,"tweetId":"189433664","gmtCreate":1623284531058,"gmtModify":1634035031543,"author":{"id":3583634477135714,"idStr":"3583634477135714","authorId":3583634477135714,"authorIdStr":"3583634477135714","name":"piggytank","avatar":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/bab67e8bc985eb4d4ec0e266af302f0c","vip":1,"userType":1,"introduction":"","boolIsFan":false,"boolIsHead":false,"crmLevel":2,"crmLevelSwitch":0,"individualDisplayBadges":[],"fanSize":3,"starInvestorFlag":false},"themes":[],"images":[],"coverImages":[],"extraTitle":"","html":"<html><head></head><body>All the way&nbsp;</body></html>","htmlText":"<html><head></head><body>All the way&nbsp;</body></html>","text":"All the way","highlighted":1,"essential":1,"paper":1,"likeSize":1,"commentSize":3,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"link":"https://laohu8.com/post/189433664","repostId":1154764167,"repostType":4,"repost":{"id":"1154764167","pubTimestamp":1623253346,"share":"https://www.laohu8.com/m/news/1154764167?lang=&edition=full","pubTime":"2021-06-09 23:42","market":"us","language":"en","title":"Palantir Puzzle Pieces: SPACs, IBM And Healthcare","url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=1154764167","media":"seekingalpha","summary":"Summary\n\nI discuss Palantir's (PLTR) history of acquisitions from 2013 to 2016.\nThen I explain PLTR'","content":"Summary\n<ul>\n <li>I discuss Palantir's (PLTR) history of acquisitions from 2013 to 2016.</li>\n <li>Then I explain PLTR's six recent SPAC investments; insights provided.</li>\n <li>Lastly, I reveal ideas related to IBM but also healthcare opportunities.</li>\n</ul>\nQuick Agenda\nFirst, I discuss Palantir's (PLTR) history of acquisitions from 2013 to 2016. It's about talent and brainpower. Second, I explain PLTR's six recent SPAC investments. I show that there's a shift in strategy and purpose. Third, I reveal ideas related to IBM (IBM) but also healthcare, which is rather exciting. I'm especially thrilled that all of these things relate to each other. It's like pieces of a puzzle are really starting to click into place; very satisfying.\nHistory\nIt might surprise you to learn that PLTR has been actively buying companies for many years. Here's a quick look:\n<ul>\n <li>Voicegem(Acquired: Feb 16, 2013) is a web and iOS based voice messaging platform.</li>\n <li>Poptip(Acquired: Jul 29, 2014) analyzes and synthesizes social conversations in real-time to enable brands to understand people's opinions.</li>\n <li>Propeller(Acquired: Jul 31, 2014) is a web platform for creating and updating applications using a drag-and-drop interface.</li>\n <li>FT Tech(Acquired: Feb 6th, 2015) provides retailers the ability to compete in today’s omnichannel world and make their brick-and-mortar operations more efficient.</li>\n <li>Kimono Labs(Acquired: Feb 15, 2016) is an online platform that allows its users to convert their websites into APIs.</li>\n <li>Silk(Acquired: Aug 10, 2016) is a cloud-based application that enables users to visualize their data online by the way of interactive web pages.</li>\n</ul>\nWhat I find surprising is that there isn't really a single area of focus. This buying activity isn't all connected to data visualization, security, or some set of specific tools and technology. It feels all over the place. However, I did findthese clues:\n<blockquote>\n Last year, Propeller raised $1.25 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, ffAngel, and, in the words of my boss Alexia Tsotsis, “everyone good basically.” One big connection with Palantir:Peter Thielis both a co-founder at Palantir and a partner at Founders Fund (ffAngel is the firm’s seed investment arm).\n</blockquote>\nAnd then this from the same source:\n<blockquote>\n We have great respect for the people and the work accomplished at Palantir, and getting to know them over the past few months made it clear just how well our teams are aligned. Having tackled many technical challenges facing mobile app creation, we’re eager to solve important problems at Palantir on a global scale.\n</blockquote>\nSo, at least for Propeller, the central idea was very much about people, both in terms of their social networks vis-à-vis Peter Thiel but also the brainpower.\nTheVoicegem acquisitionalso tells a similar story of grabbing talent:\n<blockquote>\n The acqhire [sic] is another example of how top-tier accelerators are becoming talent feeders for big tech companies. The exhaustive process of building a startup gives young entrepreneurs valuable skills that are attractive even if their first companies don’t pan out. Eventually, you have to decide if you want to ride out your own focused business idea, or play a small part in something bigger. It seems Voicegem chose impact over control.\n</blockquote>\nFor even more clarity, when PLTR bought Voicegem they didn't keep the product, or even the data. It also stopped accepting new users and they shut down the service entirely.\nAnd, finally, because I want to beat a dead horse,it was the same for Silk.\n<blockquote>\n The transaction appears to be an acqui-hire, with members of the Silk team directly joining Palantir in new roles.\n</blockquote>\nPlus...\n<blockquote>\n The Silk team noted that it was willing to transition to work on “even bigger and more important data problems,” signaling that the deal is likely not indicative of any new consumer pivot for Palantir.\n</blockquote>\nTaking this all together, from 2013 to 2016, PLTR was hunting for talent. They were on the prowl for engineers, designers, developers and much more. It appears they found some of that talent inside small start-up companies, often with strong connections in the VC community and of course via Peter Thiel.\nI want to be very clear here before moving on. This is not a set of desperate actions. I feel that this acquisition activity was good because not only did PLTR get strong talent, but they also tapped into people with good energy and knowledge. I'm specifically talking about the experience that comes from being inside of a start-up company. That's the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that can drive and sustain culture.\nPivot To SPACs\nIt's likely that you're familiar with SPACS but if not here's aquick overview:\n<blockquote>\n Otherwise known as a special purpose acquisition company or a blank check company, a SPAC is a publicly traded entity that exists solely to raise money and acquire an existing private company.\n</blockquote>\nAnd, why does this matter?\n<blockquote>\n A company might choose to go public through a SPAC versus an IPO because the process can be accomplished more quickly, with fewer associated costs and extensive financial disclosure requirements than an outright IPO.\n</blockquote>\nIn my opinion, these \"blank check\" companies give investors a fast and easy way to channel money into opportunities. With so much easy money sloshing around, it's pretty easy to see why SPACs have become so popular.\nIn any event, PLTR has aggressively entered the space. They've now agreed to no less thansix SPAC deals in less than three months. Here's a usefuloverviewif you really want to dig deep. And, for faster reference:\n<ul>\n <li>Sarcos (market: robotics)</li>\n <li>Lilium (market: high speed air transportation)</li>\n <li>Wejo (market: automotive sensors and data)</li>\n <li>Celularity (market: biotechnology)</li>\n <li>Roivant (market: healthcare and drug development)</li>\n <li>Babylon (market: healthcare)</li>\n</ul>\nFirst, I have to admit that on the surface, I think this activity is weird. That's because PLTR just recently went public via a \"DPO\" (Direct Public Offering) afterwaiting about 17 years. Furthermore, they are ingrowth modeso it's strange they would be looking to invest into other companies at this point.\nThat being said, there is definitely afinancial incentive here:\n<blockquote>\n By participating in the PIPE, or private investment in public equity, Palantir is guaranteed ownership of a certain amount of stock once the transaction closes and the shares in the operating company start trading.\n</blockquote>\nPIPEis simply an acronym. It means you've got private investment in public equity and the purpose is to allow the issuer of the stock to raise capital for the public company. The main point is that PLTR is getting real skin in the game and can be rewarded if the SPAC works out. In other words, there is an opportunity to place a bet and possibly win big. Not a bad thing, of course, but you have to admit it's odd given PTLR's situation.\nThen again, maybe this is a brilliant maneuver. Unlike its early acquisitions, via SPACs, PLTR is able totap into many large companies with great speed.\n<blockquote>\n While many tech companies like Google, Salesforce and Intel have large venture groups that back start-ups at various stages, Palantir’s focus on SPACs is unique among strategic investors. It means Palantir is betting on more mature companies that are often already valued in the billions of dollars.\n</blockquote>\nBig companies can use SPACs to tap into smaller companies. However, while PLTR is \"big\" it's certainly no Google (GOOG)(GOOGL), for example. Therefore, this is an opportunity to tap into bigger fish. Yet, that still doesn't fully explain what they are doing.\nI think what's happening is relatively simple. In effect, PLTR is strategically buying its way into large organizations. Similarly, they are getting cozy with these companies, their leadership and their customers. It's a classic \"foot in the door\" marketing technique, with the unique twist of a financial kicker. That is, if the SPAC is homerun, they also get that leverage.\nWhat's wonderful is that this isn't some theory that I concocted. We merely have tolisten to PLTRto hear the truth:\n<blockquote>\n “We’re seeing an opportunity to back really good management teams with big visions,” said Kevin Kawasaki, Palantir’s head of business development. The company can partner and “allow them to have our data operating systems platform that we’ve put 15 years and billions of R&amp;D dollars into,” he said.\n</blockquote>\nThe \"IBM Echo\"\nThis reminds me of what IBM did years ago with the Weather Channel. Sure, weather affects nearly everyone and everything,but consider this:\n<blockquote>\n Now instead of having to lease the Weather Company’s data and related data sifting technology, IBM can simply own it and do what it wants. Presumably, that means IBM will sell companies access to the information as well as related weather forecasting services.\n</blockquote>\nIBM wanted unlimited access to the data so they just bought what they needed. Imagine how they are able to feed their artificial intelligence systems, and what that means for real-world, real-time training.\nI'm confident PLTR is looking to gain similar access to data. Three SPACs are involved in healthcare and two SPACs are in automotive, so there's also a more narrow focus than their early days where they focused on engineering talent, and related brainpower. Now they're turning to systems integration, market intelligence (i.e., large, real-time data pools) and strategic marketing.\nHealthcare, Oh My!\nIt's becoming clear to me that PLTR is landing troops on the healthcare beach for a full assault. In addition to Celularity, Roivant and Babylon SPACS, go ahead andfeast your eyes on this:\n<blockquote>\n Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) announces hiring Dr William J. Kassler, MD, MPH, as the company's first U.S. Government Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Kassler, who joins Palantir from IBM Watson Health, will lead the Public Health and Life Sciences teams across the USG and international business.\n</blockquote>\nI also want to reinforceyet another concept here. Weaving this all together is extremely important to understand the long-term PLTR bullish thesis:\n<blockquote>\n IBM and Palantir Technologies today announced a new partnership consisting of IBM's hybrid cloud data platform designed to deliver AI for business, with Palantir's next generation operations platform for building applications. The product is expected to simplify how businesses build and deploy AI-infused applications with IBM Watson and help users access, analyze, and take action on the vast amounts of data that is scattered across hybrid cloud environments – without the need for deep technical skills. The new product, Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data, is planned for general availability in March of 2021.\n</blockquote>\nI didn't mention IBM and the Weather Channel earlier by accident. While I initially thought that PLTR was getting close to IBM for the sake of IBM's sales team, I've shifted my view. I'll come back to that in a moment, first justconsider the value to PLTR:\n<blockquote>\n Reselling Palantir’s software to augment the data and AI tools that IBM already offers and make them easier for more people to use was “a natural” fit, said Rob Thomas, IBM’s senior vice president of software, cloud and data. “We’re going to sell it to 180 countries and thousands of customers.”\n</blockquote>\nBut, as I pointed out, I think this is merely one small part of the bigger picture. PLTR and IBM are far more than simple business partners, whereby PLTR gets greater reach. Strategically, PLTR is getting deep exposure to healthcare opportunities via relationships, sales teams, technical integration, data sets, and far more.\nIn fact, I think the IBM partnership and the three healthcare SPACs all point to an incredible long-term opportunity in that market. Sure, Dr. Kassler is tied to government healthcare, and yes, PLTR is known more for government work. However, it's not the military or defense. Furthermore,this news just broke:\n<blockquote>\n Palantir Technologies wasawardeda $7.4M one-year contract renewal with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(NASDAQ:CDC)to continue to provide an outbreak response and disease surveillance solution for the Data Collation and Integration for Public Health Event Response, or DCIPHER, Program.\n</blockquote>\nPLTR is far deeper into healthcare than most investors realize and obviously the TAM (total addressable market) is absolutely monstrous. We have the IBM connection combined with Dr. Kessler. Now, we have the SPAC activity, plus the news about the new CDC contract. In other words, PLTR might become a true powerhouse in healthcare in the coming years. The opportunities are legion and it makes my head spin.\nWrap Up and Insights\nPLTR's early acquisitions were all about talent and brainpower. Nothing mysterious or deep. That is, the products didn't matter, the markets didn't matter and the technology didn't even matter much at all.\nThen, nothing much happened between 2017 and 2020. I suspect that PLTR was setting up for their public launch. Instead of bringing on more talent, they probably decided to buckle down and get all their systems tidied up, fully integrated, and more. Their house was messy and they cleaned up.\nRecently, they've gone a bit crazy buying into SPACs. As I've outlined, this activity is really about buying into leadership, new customers, and new data. These SPACs could certainly provide financial rewards in the short term, but I think strategically PLTR is getting set up for long-term benefits, even customers that can feed them money, opportunities and even more data. Tactically, I applaud this seemingly odd activity and strategically I'm willing to give PLTR the benefit of the doubt. It's not random in my view.\nAnd lastly, my eyes have been more widely opened up to PLTR's deep and nuanced connections with IBM. More importantly, I'm now seeing much larger opportunities for PLTR in healthcare based on their SPAC activity, IBM connections and of course the recent contract news regarding the CDC. Of course, it probably goes without saying that I remain bullish on PLTR.","source":"seekingalpha","collect":0,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Palantir Puzzle Pieces: SPACs, IBM And Healthcare</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nPalantir Puzzle Pieces: SPACs, IBM And Healthcare\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2021-06-09 23:42 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://seekingalpha.com/article/4433828-palantir-puzzle-pieces-spacs-ibm-and-healthcare>seekingalpha</a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\nSummary\n\nI discuss Palantir's (PLTR) history of acquisitions from 2013 to 2016.\nThen I explain PLTR's six recent SPAC investments; insights provided.\nLastly, I reveal ideas related to IBM but also ...\n\n<a href=\"https://seekingalpha.com/article/4433828-palantir-puzzle-pieces-spacs-ibm-and-healthcare\">Web Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","type":0,"thumbnail":"","relate_stocks":{"PLTR":"Palantir Technologies Inc."},"source_url":"https://seekingalpha.com/article/4433828-palantir-puzzle-pieces-spacs-ibm-and-healthcare","is_english":true,"share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/5a36db9d73b4222bc376d24ccc48c8a4","article_id":"1154764167","content_text":"Summary\n\nI discuss Palantir's (PLTR) history of acquisitions from 2013 to 2016.\nThen I explain PLTR's six recent SPAC investments; insights provided.\nLastly, I reveal ideas related to IBM but also healthcare opportunities.\n\nQuick Agenda\nFirst, I discuss Palantir's (PLTR) history of acquisitions from 2013 to 2016. It's about talent and brainpower. Second, I explain PLTR's six recent SPAC investments. I show that there's a shift in strategy and purpose. Third, I reveal ideas related to IBM (IBM) but also healthcare, which is rather exciting. I'm especially thrilled that all of these things relate to each other. It's like pieces of a puzzle are really starting to click into place; very satisfying.\nHistory\nIt might surprise you to learn that PLTR has been actively buying companies for many years. Here's a quick look:\n\nVoicegem(Acquired: Feb 16, 2013) is a web and iOS based voice messaging platform.\nPoptip(Acquired: Jul 29, 2014) analyzes and synthesizes social conversations in real-time to enable brands to understand people's opinions.\nPropeller(Acquired: Jul 31, 2014) is a web platform for creating and updating applications using a drag-and-drop interface.\nFT Tech(Acquired: Feb 6th, 2015) provides retailers the ability to compete in today’s omnichannel world and make their brick-and-mortar operations more efficient.\nKimono Labs(Acquired: Feb 15, 2016) is an online platform that allows its users to convert their websites into APIs.\nSilk(Acquired: Aug 10, 2016) is a cloud-based application that enables users to visualize their data online by the way of interactive web pages.\n\nWhat I find surprising is that there isn't really a single area of focus. This buying activity isn't all connected to data visualization, security, or some set of specific tools and technology. It feels all over the place. However, I did findthese clues:\n\n Last year, Propeller raised $1.25 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, ffAngel, and, in the words of my boss Alexia Tsotsis, “everyone good basically.” One big connection with Palantir:Peter Thielis both a co-founder at Palantir and a partner at Founders Fund (ffAngel is the firm’s seed investment arm).\n\nAnd then this from the same source:\n\n We have great respect for the people and the work accomplished at Palantir, and getting to know them over the past few months made it clear just how well our teams are aligned. Having tackled many technical challenges facing mobile app creation, we’re eager to solve important problems at Palantir on a global scale.\n\nSo, at least for Propeller, the central idea was very much about people, both in terms of their social networks vis-à-vis Peter Thiel but also the brainpower.\nTheVoicegem acquisitionalso tells a similar story of grabbing talent:\n\n The acqhire [sic] is another example of how top-tier accelerators are becoming talent feeders for big tech companies. The exhaustive process of building a startup gives young entrepreneurs valuable skills that are attractive even if their first companies don’t pan out. Eventually, you have to decide if you want to ride out your own focused business idea, or play a small part in something bigger. It seems Voicegem chose impact over control.\n\nFor even more clarity, when PLTR bought Voicegem they didn't keep the product, or even the data. It also stopped accepting new users and they shut down the service entirely.\nAnd, finally, because I want to beat a dead horse,it was the same for Silk.\n\n The transaction appears to be an acqui-hire, with members of the Silk team directly joining Palantir in new roles.\n\nPlus...\n\n The Silk team noted that it was willing to transition to work on “even bigger and more important data problems,” signaling that the deal is likely not indicative of any new consumer pivot for Palantir.\n\nTaking this all together, from 2013 to 2016, PLTR was hunting for talent. They were on the prowl for engineers, designers, developers and much more. It appears they found some of that talent inside small start-up companies, often with strong connections in the VC community and of course via Peter Thiel.\nI want to be very clear here before moving on. This is not a set of desperate actions. I feel that this acquisition activity was good because not only did PLTR get strong talent, but they also tapped into people with good energy and knowledge. I'm specifically talking about the experience that comes from being inside of a start-up company. That's the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that can drive and sustain culture.\nPivot To SPACs\nIt's likely that you're familiar with SPACS but if not here's aquick overview:\n\n Otherwise known as a special purpose acquisition company or a blank check company, a SPAC is a publicly traded entity that exists solely to raise money and acquire an existing private company.\n\nAnd, why does this matter?\n\n A company might choose to go public through a SPAC versus an IPO because the process can be accomplished more quickly, with fewer associated costs and extensive financial disclosure requirements than an outright IPO.\n\nIn my opinion, these \"blank check\" companies give investors a fast and easy way to channel money into opportunities. With so much easy money sloshing around, it's pretty easy to see why SPACs have become so popular.\nIn any event, PLTR has aggressively entered the space. They've now agreed to no less thansix SPAC deals in less than three months. Here's a usefuloverviewif you really want to dig deep. And, for faster reference:\n\nSarcos (market: robotics)\nLilium (market: high speed air transportation)\nWejo (market: automotive sensors and data)\nCelularity (market: biotechnology)\nRoivant (market: healthcare and drug development)\nBabylon (market: healthcare)\n\nFirst, I have to admit that on the surface, I think this activity is weird. That's because PLTR just recently went public via a \"DPO\" (Direct Public Offering) afterwaiting about 17 years. Furthermore, they are ingrowth modeso it's strange they would be looking to invest into other companies at this point.\nThat being said, there is definitely afinancial incentive here:\n\n By participating in the PIPE, or private investment in public equity, Palantir is guaranteed ownership of a certain amount of stock once the transaction closes and the shares in the operating company start trading.\n\nPIPEis simply an acronym. It means you've got private investment in public equity and the purpose is to allow the issuer of the stock to raise capital for the public company. The main point is that PLTR is getting real skin in the game and can be rewarded if the SPAC works out. In other words, there is an opportunity to place a bet and possibly win big. Not a bad thing, of course, but you have to admit it's odd given PTLR's situation.\nThen again, maybe this is a brilliant maneuver. Unlike its early acquisitions, via SPACs, PLTR is able totap into many large companies with great speed.\n\n While many tech companies like Google, Salesforce and Intel have large venture groups that back start-ups at various stages, Palantir’s focus on SPACs is unique among strategic investors. It means Palantir is betting on more mature companies that are often already valued in the billions of dollars.\n\nBig companies can use SPACs to tap into smaller companies. However, while PLTR is \"big\" it's certainly no Google (GOOG)(GOOGL), for example. Therefore, this is an opportunity to tap into bigger fish. Yet, that still doesn't fully explain what they are doing.\nI think what's happening is relatively simple. In effect, PLTR is strategically buying its way into large organizations. Similarly, they are getting cozy with these companies, their leadership and their customers. It's a classic \"foot in the door\" marketing technique, with the unique twist of a financial kicker. That is, if the SPAC is homerun, they also get that leverage.\nWhat's wonderful is that this isn't some theory that I concocted. We merely have tolisten to PLTRto hear the truth:\n\n “We’re seeing an opportunity to back really good management teams with big visions,” said Kevin Kawasaki, Palantir’s head of business development. The company can partner and “allow them to have our data operating systems platform that we’ve put 15 years and billions of R&D dollars into,” he said.\n\nThe \"IBM Echo\"\nThis reminds me of what IBM did years ago with the Weather Channel. Sure, weather affects nearly everyone and everything,but consider this:\n\n Now instead of having to lease the Weather Company’s data and related data sifting technology, IBM can simply own it and do what it wants. Presumably, that means IBM will sell companies access to the information as well as related weather forecasting services.\n\nIBM wanted unlimited access to the data so they just bought what they needed. Imagine how they are able to feed their artificial intelligence systems, and what that means for real-world, real-time training.\nI'm confident PLTR is looking to gain similar access to data. Three SPACs are involved in healthcare and two SPACs are in automotive, so there's also a more narrow focus than their early days where they focused on engineering talent, and related brainpower. Now they're turning to systems integration, market intelligence (i.e., large, real-time data pools) and strategic marketing.\nHealthcare, Oh My!\nIt's becoming clear to me that PLTR is landing troops on the healthcare beach for a full assault. In addition to Celularity, Roivant and Babylon SPACS, go ahead andfeast your eyes on this:\n\n Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) announces hiring Dr William J. Kassler, MD, MPH, as the company's first U.S. Government Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Kassler, who joins Palantir from IBM Watson Health, will lead the Public Health and Life Sciences teams across the USG and international business.\n\nI also want to reinforceyet another concept here. Weaving this all together is extremely important to understand the long-term PLTR bullish thesis:\n\n IBM and Palantir Technologies today announced a new partnership consisting of IBM's hybrid cloud data platform designed to deliver AI for business, with Palantir's next generation operations platform for building applications. The product is expected to simplify how businesses build and deploy AI-infused applications with IBM Watson and help users access, analyze, and take action on the vast amounts of data that is scattered across hybrid cloud environments – without the need for deep technical skills. The new product, Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data, is planned for general availability in March of 2021.\n\nI didn't mention IBM and the Weather Channel earlier by accident. While I initially thought that PLTR was getting close to IBM for the sake of IBM's sales team, I've shifted my view. I'll come back to that in a moment, first justconsider the value to PLTR:\n\n Reselling Palantir’s software to augment the data and AI tools that IBM already offers and make them easier for more people to use was “a natural” fit, said Rob Thomas, IBM’s senior vice president of software, cloud and data. “We’re going to sell it to 180 countries and thousands of customers.”\n\nBut, as I pointed out, I think this is merely one small part of the bigger picture. PLTR and IBM are far more than simple business partners, whereby PLTR gets greater reach. Strategically, PLTR is getting deep exposure to healthcare opportunities via relationships, sales teams, technical integration, data sets, and far more.\nIn fact, I think the IBM partnership and the three healthcare SPACs all point to an incredible long-term opportunity in that market. Sure, Dr. Kassler is tied to government healthcare, and yes, PLTR is known more for government work. However, it's not the military or defense. Furthermore,this news just broke:\n\n Palantir Technologies wasawardeda $7.4M one-year contract renewal with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(NASDAQ:CDC)to continue to provide an outbreak response and disease surveillance solution for the Data Collation and Integration for Public Health Event Response, or DCIPHER, Program.\n\nPLTR is far deeper into healthcare than most investors realize and obviously the TAM (total addressable market) is absolutely monstrous. We have the IBM connection combined with Dr. Kessler. Now, we have the SPAC activity, plus the news about the new CDC contract. In other words, PLTR might become a true powerhouse in healthcare in the coming years. The opportunities are legion and it makes my head spin.\nWrap Up and Insights\nPLTR's early acquisitions were all about talent and brainpower. Nothing mysterious or deep. That is, the products didn't matter, the markets didn't matter and the technology didn't even matter much at all.\nThen, nothing much happened between 2017 and 2020. I suspect that PLTR was setting up for their public launch. Instead of bringing on more talent, they probably decided to buckle down and get all their systems tidied up, fully integrated, and more. Their house was messy and they cleaned up.\nRecently, they've gone a bit crazy buying into SPACs. As I've outlined, this activity is really about buying into leadership, new customers, and new data. These SPACs could certainly provide financial rewards in the short term, but I think strategically PLTR is getting set up for long-term benefits, even customers that can feed them money, opportunities and even more data. Tactically, I applaud this seemingly odd activity and strategically I'm willing to give PLTR the benefit of the doubt. It's not random in my view.\nAnd lastly, my eyes have been more widely opened up to PLTR's deep and nuanced connections with IBM. More importantly, I'm now seeing much larger opportunities for PLTR in healthcare based on their SPAC activity, IBM connections and of course the recent contract news regarding the CDC. Of course, it probably goes without saying that I remain bullish on PLTR.","news_type":1},"isVote":1,"tweetType":1,"viewCount":78,"commentLimit":10,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false,"reportStatus":false,"symbols":[],"verified":2,"subType":0,"readableState":1,"langContent":"EN","currentLanguage":"EN","warmUpFlag":false,"orderFlag":false,"shareable":true,"causeOfNotShareable":"","featuresForAnalytics":[],"commentAndTweetFlag":false,"andRepostAutoSelectedFlag":false,"upFlag":false,"length":9,"xxTargetLangEnum":"ORIG"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"isTiger":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"url":"/m/post/189433664"}