The data-mining firm’s financial statements, sent to investors on Thursday, reportedly also show government agencies contributed US$345.5 million, or 46.5 per cent of total sales last year, compared to US$397 million from private-sector clients. Meanwhile, Palantir will reportedly subject shareholders holding up to 80 per cent of outstanding stock to a lockup period, which will lift after its 2020 fiscal year earnings, likely in February. (The New York Times, Bloomberg)

Talking point: The company’s September entry to the public markets is supposed to be a direct listing, for which firms typically opt to avoid diluting existing investors’ stakes. However, the stocks of Slack and Spotify both dropped after hitting the markets that way; a lockup could help Palantir avoid that. The leaked financials suggest the seven-year-old company is a long way from breaking even, something it reportedly told investors would happen in 2020. Sales and marketing expenses of around US$450 million were a major contributor to losses in each of the last two years, and that doesn’t appear likely to change in 2020—the company has offered its services to governments around the world for free during the pandemic in hopes of generating new business.