# How Palantir Technologies (PLTR) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/pltr
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on PLTR alone. It places PLTR (Palantir Technologies Inc.) against 17 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where PLTR stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: PLTR's full trading record, from September 2020 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 3 months, PLTR rose 42.8% against 3.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.2% for the Nasdaq 100. After a 48.2% loss from November 2025 to June 2026, PLTR has bounced 77.9% off the low.
- **Stock or market?:** PLTR's 42.8% gain over the past 3 months far outran its industry: the enterprise software ETF IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF) rose 15.0%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its enterprise software peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: GTLB (GitLab) rose 61.4%, while ORCL (Oracle) rose 8.4%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** PLTR has trailed the market, rising 6.1% over the past year against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. On the flip side, it finished ahead of the S&P 500 in both 2024 and 2025.
- **Long term:** PLTR turned $10,000 into $79,500 over the past 5 years, against $18,200 in the S&P 500. PLTR's 5-year return of 695% puts it ahead of 99% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 81.7%.
- **In a crash:** In the 2022 bear market, PLTR fell 63.1%, against 24.5% for the S&P 500. That was more than MSFT (Microsoft, 31.0%) but less than SNOW (Snowflake, 64.1%).
- **Diversification:** PLTR is some diversification, but not a hedge: a correlation of 0.33 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.34 with the total US market, less closely than 65% of stocks worth at least $300 million.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** NVDA (NVIDIA) earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years: 58.0% a year at 51.9% volatility, against 51.4% a year at 67.0%.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** MU (Micron Technology, semiconductors) earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years: 68.1% a year at 57.1% volatility, against 51.4% a year at 67.0%.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only 25 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them NVDA (NVIDIA), MU (Micron Technology) and DELL (Dell Technologies).

## How much would $10,000 in PLTR have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in PLTR over the past 6 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of PLTR over the same span and PLTR's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in PLTR at the end of September 2020 would have grown to $196,893 by September 2026, more than the $24,691 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of PLTR, and FIX finished highest, at $329,952.

## PLTR at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- PLTR's deepest decline since it began trading in 2020 was 84.6%, from January 2021 to December 2022. It took 22 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over five full calendar years, PLTR's best was 2024, when it returned 340%, and its worst was 2022, when it lost 64.7%. It lost money in two of those years.
- PLTR is 7.9% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Software - Infrastructure)
- Trading since: September 30, 2020
- Market value: $443B
- Volatility (5 years): 67.0%; Sharpe ratio: 0.95
- Worst decline ever: −84.6%, from January 27, 2021 to December 27, 2022; back at its high by October 3, 2024

| Period | PLTR total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +5.2% |
| 3 months | +42.8% |
| 6 months | +32.0% |
| year to date | +14.7% |
| 1 year | +6.1% |
| 3 years | +1,096% |
| 5 years | +695% |

## PLTR against the whole market

Where PLTR ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does PLTR rank among all stocks?

This section ranks PLTR on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- PLTR's 3-year return ranks in the top 1% of the 3,017 stocks worth at least $300 million with 3 years of history.
- PLTR is among the more volatile stocks: its price swings rank in the bottom 15% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | PLTR | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +6.1% | 1,739 of 3,287 (top 53%) |
| 3-year return | +1,096% | 22 of 3,017 (top 1%) |
| 5-year return | +695% | 42 of 2,893 (top 2%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 67.0% | 2,457 of 2,893 (top 85%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.95 | 131 of 2,893 (top 5%) |

### What has beaten PLTR on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 25 stocks worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than PLTR over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half PLTR's swings, CLS has the best return for its risk: 101% a year at 59.7% volatility, 11% less than PLTR's 67.0%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.47 against 0.95 for PLTR.
- Among PLTR's popular alternatives, NVDA is in the region. NVDA earned 58.0% a year against 51.4% a year for PLTR, at 51.9% volatility, 22% less than PLTR's 67.0%.

### Is there a better investment than PLTR?

The table below lists investments that beat PLTR over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among PLTR's popular alternatives, NVDA earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years: 58.0% a year at 51.9% volatility, against 51.4% a year at 67.0%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, MU (semiconductors) earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years: 68.1% a year at 57.1% volatility, against 51.4% a year at 67.0%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only 25 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them NVDA, MU and DELL.

The 15 strongest of 25 investments that beat PLTR over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 5Y return | Correlation with PLTR | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PLTR: Palantir Technologies Inc. (this page) |  | +51.4% | 67.0% | 0.95 | −84.6% | +695% |  |  |
| [MU](https://easycompare.io/research/mu): Micron Technology, Inc. | Semiconductors | +68.1% | 57.1% | 1.20 | −57.6% | +1,244% | 0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [FIX](https://easycompare.io/research/fix): Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +77.0% | 46.7% | 1.46 | −49.7% | +1,636% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| CRS: Carpenter Technology Corporation | Metals & Mining | +63.9% | 46.5% | 1.30 | −74.7% | +1,082% | 0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | Computer Hardware | +55.2% | 54.4% | 1.08 | −59.6% | +800% | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| INSW: International Seaways, Inc. | Oil & Gas | +56.5% | 40.5% | 1.31 | −57.4% | +839% | -0.29 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [STX](https://easycompare.io/research/stx): Seagate Technology Holdings plc | Computer Hardware | +57.4% | 48.7% | 1.18 | −57.0% | +866% | 0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [WDC](https://easycompare.io/research/wdc): Western Digital Corporation | Computer Hardware | +53.7% | 53.5% | 1.07 | −70.5% | +759% | 0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [VST](https://easycompare.io/research/vst): Vistra Corp. | Independent Power Producers | +53.4% | 48.6% | 1.13 | −53.3% | +748% | 0.18 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | Semiconductors | +58.0% | 51.9% | 1.14 | −66.3% | +884% | 0.43 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| STRL: Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +78.4% | 60.0% | 1.26 | −59.6% | +1,708% | 0.17 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| FRO: Frontline Plc | Oil & Gas | +52.6% | 49.7% | 1.10 | −52.0% | +726% | -0.20 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| IESC: IES Holdings, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +58.5% | 58.0% | 1.09 | −54.3% | +900% | 0.24 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| AGX: Argan, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +53.5% | 54.1% | 1.06 | −56.7% | +751% | -0.02 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| TRMD: TORM plc | Marine Shipping | +54.3% | 45.9% | 1.18 | −60.6% | +776% | -0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| BWLP: BW LPG Limited | Marine Shipping | +60.3% | 50.9% | 1.19 | −68.8% | +958% | 0.00 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |

## PLTR against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against PLTR, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do PLTR's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only NVDA was both more rewarding and calmer than PLTR over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, PLTR returned 51.4% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (67.0% against 17.1%).

### Has PLTR consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares PLTR with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over seven periods from one month to five years.

- None of the 17 popular alternatives outperformed PLTR in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 2 long-term timeframes. The closest was NVDA.
- NVDA earned more for the risk it took than PLTR (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | Periods ahead of PLTR | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PLTR: Palantir Technologies Inc. (this page) | +6.1% | +1,096% | +695% |  |  | 0.95 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | +18.8% | +425% | +884% | 1/5 short-term, 1/2 long-term |  | 1.14 |
| ESTC: Elastic N.V. | +14.1% | +20.1% | −43.3% | 5/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.11 |
| GTLB: GitLab Inc. | +16.8% | +24.1% | −47.9% | 5/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.18 |
| DT: Dynatrace, Inc. | +27.0% | +37.4% | −16.9% | 4/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.12 |
| [DDOG](https://easycompare.io/research/ddog): Datadog, Inc. | +64.1% | +198% | +61.4% | 3/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.45 |
| [SNOW](https://easycompare.io/research/snow): Snowflake Inc. | +30.1% | +116% | −4.3% | 3/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.29 |
| S: SentinelOne, Inc. | +28.4% | +37.7% | −64.8% | 3/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | -0.01 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +21.3% | +110% | +53.8% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.42 |
| [NOW](https://easycompare.io/research/now): ServiceNow, Inc. | −18.5% | +37.8% | +9.8% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.27 |
| MDB: MongoDB, Inc. | +11.8% | +5.7% | −27.4% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.26 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | +31.2% | +148% | +138% | 1/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | +3.8% | +66.6% | +80.3% | 1/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [ORCL](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl): Oracle Corporation | −52.1% | +33.3% | +45.1% | 0/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| LDOS: Leidos Holdings, Inc. | −32.2% | +42.4% | +35.6% | 0/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.36 |
| BAH: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation | −23.5% | −34.5% | +2.0% | 0/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.18 |
| [CRM](https://easycompare.io/research/crm): Salesforce, Inc. | −3.9% | +21.3% | −14.8% | 0/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.12 |
| PATH: UiPath Inc. | −15.7% | −13.5% | −74.0% | 0/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | -0.09 |

### How did PLTR do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2021, along with where PLTR ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- PLTR finished ahead of the S&P 500 in three of its five full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last three.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, PLTR finished in the top quarter in three of five years and in the bottom quarter in two. In 2025, it ranked 1 of 18.
- Among its popular alternatives, NVDA came out ahead of PLTR most often, in three of the five years both traded.

| Year | PLTR | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +135% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +340% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +167% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −64.7% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | −22.7% | +28.7% |

## Risk and diversification

How PLTR has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were PLTR's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of PLTR's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: PLTR fell 84.6% from January 2021 to December 2022, while the S&P 500 rose 4.9%.
- The longest climb back to a previous high took 22 months, after PLTR fell 84.6% from January 2021 to December 2022.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −84.6% | January 27, 2021 | December 27, 2022 | October 3, 2024 | +4.9% | 2022 bear market |
| −48.2% | November 3, 2025 | June 25, 2026 | October 9, 2026 | +8.3% |  |
| −40.6% | February 18, 2025 | April 4, 2025 | May 13, 2025 | −17.1% |  |
| −22.5% | November 25, 2020 | December 2, 2020 | January 22, 2021 | +1.1% |  |
| −21.1% | December 24, 2024 | January 13, 2025 | January 31, 2025 | −3.3% |  |

### How did PLTR do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far PLTR, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- PLTR fell further than the S&P 500 in all two crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2022 bear market, when PLTR fell 63.1% and the S&P 500 fell 24.5%.
- Among its popular alternatives, NVDA held up best, falling less than PLTR in all two crashes they both traded through.
- PLTR began trading after the 2008 financial crisis, but seven of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was LDOS's 20.9%, against 55.2% for the S&P 500.

| Crash | Dates | PLTR fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | not trading | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | not trading | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | not trading | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | not trading | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | not trading | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | not trading | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | not trading | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −63.1% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −9.6% | −3.4% |

### How closely does PLTR move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 5 years, PLTR captured 239% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 161% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.60. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- Only NVDA had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than PLTR's 1.48, out of 16 popular alternatives with the same record.
- NVDA took just 152% of the S&P 500's losses, against 161% for PLTR, while still keeping 259% of its gains.

Measured over the past 5 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PLTR: Palantir Technologies Inc. (this page) | 239% | 161% | 1.60 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | 259% | 152% | 2.21 |
| ESTC: Elastic N.V. | 66.0% | 177% | 1.04 |
| DT: Dynatrace, Inc. | 57.0% | 127% | 0.77 |
| [DDOG](https://easycompare.io/research/ddog): Datadog, Inc. | 112% | 119% | 1.51 |
| [SNOW](https://easycompare.io/research/snow): Snowflake Inc. | 83.0% | 134% | 1.35 |
| S: SentinelOne, Inc. | 16.0% | 129% | 0.70 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | 125% | 170% | 1.45 |
| [NOW](https://easycompare.io/research/now): ServiceNow, Inc. | 85.0% | 142% | 0.99 |
| MDB: MongoDB, Inc. | 145% | 285% | 1.74 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | 140% | 132% | 1.20 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | 115% | 126% | 1.10 |
| [ORCL](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl): Oracle Corporation | 159% | 213% | 1.77 |
| LDOS: Leidos Holdings, Inc. | 69.0% | 88.0% | 0.58 |
| BAH: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation | 46.0% | 88.0% | 0.36 |
| [CRM](https://easycompare.io/research/crm): Salesforce, Inc. | 106% | 205% | 1.25 |
| PATH: UiPath Inc. | 40.0% | 242% | 1.00 |

### What diversifies PLTR?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in PLTR into MPC would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 20% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+50.7% for PLTR alone, +57.3% for the mix).
- MPC made money in two of the two calendar years in which PLTR lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of PLTR over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.14 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with PLTR | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in PLTR's 2 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | -0.04 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 2 of 2 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.14 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 2 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.07 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 2 of 2 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | -0.08 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 2 of 2 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.25 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 1 of 2 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.12 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 1 of 2 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.05 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 0 of 2 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.18 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 2 |

## Common questions

### What was PLTR's worst drawdown?

PLTR's deepest decline since it began trading in 2020 was 84.6%, from January 2021 to December 2022. It took 22 months from the low to climb back to its old high. Because PLTR launched in September 2020, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or six other sell-offs.

### What were PLTR's best and worst years?

Over five full calendar years, PLTR's best year was 2024, when it returned 340%. Its worst was 2022, with a return of -64.7%.

### Is there a better investment than PLTR?

Among PLTR's popular alternatives, NVDA earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years: 58.0% a year at 51.9% volatility, against 51.4% a year at 67.0%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, MU (semiconductors) earned more than PLTR with less volatility over the past 5 years: 68.1% a year at 57.1% volatility, against 51.4% a year at 67.0%.

### Is PLTR more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. PLTR's volatility over the past 5 years was 67.0%, 3.9 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, PLTR's return lands within 67.0% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is PLTR's Sharpe ratio?

PLTR's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.95, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so PLTR earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is PLTR with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, PLTR's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.33 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against PLTR instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a PLTR holding.

### What are the best alternatives to PLTR?

None of the 17 popular alternatives we compared outperformed PLTR in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 2 long-term timeframes, which says more about PLTR's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did PLTR outperform the S&P 500?

PLTR finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of five full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +135%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did PLTR do in stock market crashes?

PLTR fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in none of the two major crashes it has traded through, and further in two. The clearest case was the 2022 bear market, when PLTR fell 63.1% and the S&P 500 fell 24.5%.

### What diversifies PLTR?

These had a low correlation with PLTR over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation -0.04), DXJ (correlation 0.14) and EMLP (correlation 0.07); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.01), CLS (correlation 0.29) and FIX (correlation 0.22). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

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- [Salesforce (CRM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/crm)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)
- [Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vti)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/pltr
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against PLTR live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=PLTR&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research