Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR)vs Salesforce, Inc. (CRM)

Quick verdict

One number frames this entire comparison: at the 4 September 2026 close Palantir traded on 72.7 times trailing revenue, Salesforce on 4.9 times. That is not a rounding difference in sentiment — it is two completely different propositions. Palantir's $447.8bn market value rests on $6.2bn of revenue in the twelve months to June 2026; Salesforce's $213.3bn value rests on $43.9bn of revenue in the twelve months to July 2026, roughly seven times the scale. Our factor verdicts split evenly, three apiece. Salesforce wins valuation and income; Palantir wins quality and balance sheet; growth and momentum are too close to call. The choice is therefore not about which is the better business in the abstract but about which set of trade-offs you are willing to own: compounding growth at an extreme multiple, or a mature franchise priced modestly but carrying $39.3bn of debt.

At-a-glance comparison

Business model and revenue mix

Palantir sells data-integration and AI software platforms — Gotham, Foundry and AIP — to governments and large enterprises, a Nasdaq-listed infrastructure-software business with $6.2bn of revenue in the twelve months to June 2026 and an 84.8% gross margin that reflects how little incremental cost each deployment carries. Salesforce, listed on the NYSE, sells cloud-based customer-relationship-management software plus related data, analytics and AI tools on subscription, generating $43.9bn over the twelve months to July 2026 at a 77.3% gross margin. Both are classified in Technology, but the sub-industries differ: Palantir in Software—Infrastructure, Salesforce in Software—Application. Salesforce's January fiscal year-end means its latest fiscal year is labelled 2026 while Palantir's December year-end gives a latest fiscal year of 2025 — worth remembering when the growth base years are compared. Share counts differ starkly too: 2.57bn versus 823m.

Valuation

On valuation the verdict goes to Salesforce, and not narrowly. Every multiple points the same way as of 4 September 2026: 23.7 times trailing earnings against Palantir's 149, 4.9 times sales against 72.7, 5.6 times book against 45.8, and 23.9 times EV/EBITDA against 167.4. The cash-flow gap is the most tangible: Salesforce offers a 7.1% free-cash-flow yield on $15.2bn of trailing free cash flow, while Palantir's $3.4bn converts to just 0.75% against its far larger market capitalisation. Salesforce also carries a PEG of 0.10, though that figure leans on an earnings growth rate distorted by a low starting point and should not be read literally. None of this makes Palantir's multiple wrong — it encodes expectations of many years of compounding — but on the numbers in front of us, Salesforce is materially cheaper on every measure available.

Growth profile

Growth is where the comparison genuinely deadlocks, hence the TIE. On the top line Palantir is clearly ahead: revenue compounded at 32.9% a year over the three years to fiscal 2025 from a fiscal 2022 base, and 32.6% over five years from fiscal 2020 — remarkably steady rates rather than a single good year. Salesforce grew revenue at 9.8% annually over the three years to fiscal 2026 from a fiscal 2023 base, and 14.3% over five years from fiscal 2021, so the longer window is the stronger one. Against that, Salesforce posts earnings-per-share growth of 233.7% a year over three years — a figure inflated by a depressed fiscal 2023 starting point and best treated as evidence of margin recovery rather than underlying momentum; its five-year EPS rate of 12.2% is the fairer read. No comparable EPS series is available for Palantir.

Profitability and quality

Quality goes to Palantir, and the margin ladder shows why. Operating margin reached 42.8% in the twelve months to June 2026 against Salesforce's 19.9%, on reported operating-income lines at both companies. Net margin tells the same story: 49.0% versus 22.0%. Palantir's net income of $3.0bn actually exceeds its $2.6bn operating profit, a gap attributable to non-operating items rather than trading performance. Gross margin favours Palantir too at 84.8% against 77.3%, the structural advantage of platform licensing over a broad application suite. Returns on capital reinforce the ranking — 26.9% return on invested capital versus 9.8%, and 38.2% return on equity versus 19.4%. Salesforce's ROE is worth reading with care given its heavy buyback programme has been shrinking the equity base; its ROIC of 9.8% is the cleaner number, and it still trails.

Balance-sheet risk

Few pairs separate this cleanly on financial structure. Palantir reported zero total debt at 30 June 2026 alongside $2.0bn of cash, giving net debt to EBITDA of -0.76 times and a current ratio of 7.23 — a balance sheet with no leverage to manage and ample short-term cover. Salesforce, at 31 July 2026, carried $39.3bn of total debt against $8.3bn of cash, producing net debt of roughly three times EBITDA and a current ratio of 0.84, meaning current liabilities exceed current assets. Interest coverage of 8.92 times indicates the debt is comfortably serviced from operating profit, and a subscription business with predictable billings can reasonably run tighter working capital. Still, on the evidence the verdict is Palantir's: no debt is no debt, and it removes an entire category of risk from the equation.

Price performance and shareholder returns

Shareholder income is Salesforce's, unambiguously. It paid $1.84 per share over the twelve months to July 2026, a 0.71% dividend yield at the September close, funded from a 15.7% payout ratio that leaves substantial room for growth or reinvestment. The far larger number is the 16.4% buyback yield — Salesforce is returning capital principally by retiring stock, which partly explains why its 823m share count sits so far below Palantir's 2.57bn and why its return on equity needs reading alongside return on invested capital. Palantir pays no dividend at all, with a payout ratio of zero and a buyback yield of 0.02%, effectively nil. For a company reinvesting behind 32.9% three-year revenue growth that is a defensible policy, but it means total return there must come entirely from the share price.

Which stock fits which investor

The style tags capture it: Palantir is high-growth, high-quality; Salesforce is a blend. An investor screening on value should look at Salesforce — 23.7 times earnings, 4.9 times sales and a 7.1% free-cash-flow yield are all the cheaper side of this pairing. Income seekers have only one candidate, given Palantir's zero dividend against Salesforce's 1.84 per share and 16.4% buyback yield. Those prioritising growth will favour Palantir's 32.9% three-year revenue compounding, and those prioritising quality will note its 42.8% operating margin, 26.9% ROIC and debt-free balance sheet. With overall scores tied at three each, there is no single winner here. The honest framing is that Palantir's operating economics are superior and its price reflects that fully; Salesforce's economics are ordinary by software standards and its price reflects that too.

• Value: CRM
• Growth: PLTR
• Income: CRM
• Quality: PLTR

Frequently asked questions

Why is Palantir so much more expensive than Salesforce?

On every available multiple as of 4 September 2026: 149 times trailing earnings versus 23.7, 72.7 times sales versus 4.9, and 167.4 times EV/EBITDA versus 23.9. The gap reflects Palantir's 32.9% three-year revenue growth and 42.8% operating margin, but it also means a great deal of future performance is already in the price.

Which company generates more free cash flow?

Salesforce, by a wide margin in absolute terms — $15.2bn in the twelve months to July 2026 against Palantir's $3.4bn for the twelve months to June 2026. Relative to market value the difference is starker still: a 7.1% free-cash-flow yield versus 0.75%.

Does either company pay a dividend?

Only Salesforce. It paid $1.84 per share over the twelve months to July 2026, a 0.71% yield, with a payout ratio of 15.7%. Palantir pays nothing and its buyback yield of 0.02% is effectively zero, so shareholder return there depends wholly on the share price.

How different are the balance sheets?

Very. Palantir had zero debt and $2.0bn of cash at 30 June 2026, with a current ratio of 7.23. Salesforce had $39.3bn of debt against $8.3bn of cash at 31 July 2026, net debt of about three times EBITDA, and a current ratio of 0.84 — though interest coverage of 8.92 times shows the borrowing is well serviced.

Is Salesforce's 233.7% EPS growth rate real?

It is arithmetically correct but flattered by its starting point — it measures the three years to fiscal 2026 from a depressed fiscal 2023 base. The five-year figure of 12.2% a year, running from fiscal 2021, is the more representative reading of underlying earnings progress.

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