A deleted social media post moved Palantir’s market value by billions — and retail traders want accountability

A deleted social media post erased billions in Palantir’s market value — and retail traders are demanding consequences. Michael Burry, known for predicting the 2008 housing crash, suggested on social media that AI rival Anthropic could be overtaking Palantir. He deleted the post, but not before it spread through trading communities focused on AI stocks. Palantir’s shares dropped more than 13% over the next two days. The stock is down over 29% year-to-date.

Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, dismissed Burry’s take as a “fictional narrative” and stood by his $230 price target — a 77% upside from Thursday’s close. He cited Palantir’s proprietary Ontology framework, growing enterprise contracts, and deep integration in government and commercial sectors as enduring advantages. U.S. commercial revenue has surged more than 137% year over year. Government revenue grew by about 66%, reflecting accelerating adoption of large-scale data analytics and AI programs.

Ives argued that competitive threats from Anthropic do not materially weaken Palantir’s position. Yet the market reaction revealed something else: how much influence a single investor’s unverified commentary can have. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits flipped from “bullish” to “extremely bullish” within 24 hours. Message volume spiked to “extremely high.” One user said Burry should be charged with manipulation. Another predicted a future merger between Palantir and Anthropic for superintelligence. By Friday morning, Palantir’s stock was trading more than 5% lower.