Palantir soars on deal with Microsoft to sell AI tools to US defense and intelligence agencies

• Shares of Palantir soared over 11% Thursday.
• Shares of the data software company rose after it announced a new partnership with Microsoft.
• The companies will provide cloud and AI tools to US defense and intelligence services.

Shares of Palantir jumped Thursday, fueled by a new partnership with Microsoft to provide artificial intelligence and other analytic tools to US government agencies.

The data software firm's stock rose as much as 11% to $29.23 per share as of 2:18 p.m. ET before paring gains to about 9% toward the end of the trading session.

Palantir's AI-driven data and analytics tools will be available on Microsoft's cloud services and use Microsoft's Azure OpenAI models, resulting in an integrated solution to sell to US defense and intelligence agencies.

The partnership "will help accelerate the safe, secure, and responsible deployment of advanced AI capabilities for the US government," Microsoft Americas president Deb Cupp said in a press release.

Palantir has seen growing demand amongst government agencies for its AI-driven defense products, which help plan and visualize military movements.

The company signed a $480 million contract with the US Army in May, and its stock is up almost 69% this year.

Palantir's latest earnings, released earlier this week, reported the company's largest quarterly profit yet. Around 54% of its revenue came from government clients.

The company also raised its annual revenue forecast for the second time this year to $2.74 billion to $2.75 billion, up from $2.68 billion to $2.69 billion.