Despite its lofty valuation, Palantir Technologies Inc. is barely growing:

In the fourth quarter, he points out, Palantir signed 21 deals worth more than $5 million, and 12 of more than $10 million. But he adds that it isn’t clear how many of those are actually new customers, as opposed to new projects with existing customers.

He notes that given total customer count went to 139 at year end from 132 one quarter earlier, it would seem that most of the new work is from previous customers. “New customer growth is what will ultimately be required to show the commercial momentum the market wants to see longer term,” he writes. “In this regard, the data is still mixed.”

Seven new customers, net, in 3 months? Not terribly impressive for a company with a market cap of $43 billion and a forward price/earnings ratio of 169. That ratio implies a company that is growing like crazy, not signing a couple of customers a quarter.

Other reports have indicated growth in their core government contracting business has slowed to a crawl. On the commercial side, 20% of revenue comes from a single customer. The business in general is concentrated in a handful of large customers, any one of whose departure would sting, big time.

Until Palantir grows at a rate to justify its buoyant stock price, I’ll be keeping my distance.

For more on Palantir, check out these posts:

• Bullish Investors Pile Into Palantir Options
• Palantir Sued Over Controversial Founder Privileges
• Palantir Is Losing $100 Million a Month With No End in Sight

If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/Facebook/etc. using the buttons below. This helps more people find the blog! And please leave a comment at the bottom of the page letting me know what you think and what other information you’re interested in!

Check out the Stuff I Use page for some great deals on products and services I use to improve my health and productivity. They just might help you too!

Photo: “PandoMonthly – April 2012 – Sarah Lacy Interviews Peter Thiel” by thekenyeung is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0