Trump posted a message shouting out Palantir (PLTR.US), but the "big short" is not buying it: they continue to short, saying it is not worth more than $50!

On Friday, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, posted on the Truth Social website praising the artificial intelligence software company Palantir Technologies (PLTR.US), which boosted the stock and helped it recover from intraday lows. However, the stock still fell by 13.7% this week, marking its worst performance in nearly a year and bringing its decline in 2026 to about 28%. Despite Trump's public support boosting the stock, the protg of the movie "The Big Short," Michael Burry, continues to short Palantir. "Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has proven its powerful combat capabilities and equipment," Trump wrote on social media platform, "just ask our enemies and they will know!!!" It is reported that the US military is using Palantir's AI-driven Maven intelligence system platform to identify targets in the Middle East, related to the airstrikes against Iran that began at the end of February. Palantir receives over half of its US revenue from government agencies, including the Pentagon and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over the years, CEO Alex Karp has openly supported the US military and has been dedicated to providing the best equipment for combat personnel. Although Karp has criticized Trump before and has donated to Joe Biden's presidential campaign, he still supports the new government and its policies. Karp often defends Palantir, a company criticized for providing tools used to monitor immigrants and American citizens. He previously told the media that after Hamas launched an attack on October 7th, he openly supported Israel, leading to some employees quitting. Last October, Lisa Gordon, Palantir's communications director, expressed concerns about the company's political leaning towards the Trump administration during an interview at an event hosted by The Information. The video was quickly deleted from The Information's YouTube and social media pages. The Washington-based nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in an email that Trump's post was unusual, pointing out that Palantir had sponsored several events for the Trump administration and donated to the White House dining hall project. CREW said that Trump listing stock codes in his post may be an attempt to boost the stock price of a major supporter, a Trump supporter whose stock has been underperforming for the past six months. Palantir is also linked to the artificial intelligence lab Anthropic, which has been blacklisted by the US Department of Defense for its tools being used for autonomous weapons and government surveillance. Palantir uses models from Anthropic and other AI labs on its platform. Karp told the media last month that Palantir would "gradually phase out" Anthropic's models, but this has not been fulfilled to date. This week, after Anthropic limitedly released its new Mythos model, software stocks were sold off as Anthropic expressed concerns that the model could be misused by hackers. In recent months, the AI industry has been concerned about new AI tools replacing traditional software models. Burry, a well-known short seller, has recently targeted the stock of this company and other AI companies. This week, Burry wrote in a subsequently deleted post that Anthropic is "eating away at Palantir's market share." After Trump's comments on Friday, Burry wrote about the company again. "Trump's post boosted the stock, which had fallen by 18% in the past three days," Burry wrote. "This stock may see a rebound as it has been falling along with software stocks. As I mentioned before, I still hold put options because I believe the fundamental value of this company is far below $50 per share." Burry stated that he continues to hold long-term put options on this AI software company. He has been shorting the company since the fall of 2025 and has rolled over multiple times. After experiencing a sharp decline this week, the stock is currently trading at around $126. "I currently hold put options with expiration on June 17, 2027, with an exercise price of $50 and expiration on December 19, 2026, with an exercise price of $100. I will not sell these options today," Burry wrote. The prominent investor stated that the stock has continued to weaken since reaching a peak of nearly $200 last year and is still "severely overvalued." Burry acknowledges that the stock may rebound in the short term, but he believes the company's fundamental value is less than half of the current stock price. Last year, Burry's former hedge fund Scion Asset Management disclosed its short positions on Palantir and AI darling NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US), sparking a strong reaction from Karp. Karp called Burry's bet "extremely strange" and "crazy." Burry also revealed on Friday that he had increased his short position on NVIDIA Corporation. "I increased my short position in NVIDIA Corporation, buying put options with an expiration date of January 27, with an exercise price of $115, at a price of $3.30. The implied volatility is high, so I considered shorting directly," he said. "However, I like to limit the maximum loss, and theta decay (also known as time decay) will not be significant within two months. If necessary, I will consider rolling over the options."