CLBT vs PLTR: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of November 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: CLBT is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CLBT and PLTR share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CLBT and PLTR exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Cellebrite DI Ltd. sells the digital-intelligence toolchain used in criminal investigations. Its access products (the Inseyets line, successor to the UFED hardware kits) unlock and extract data from mobile devices, Guardian handles cloud-based evidence review and sharing across agencies, Pathfinder and the newer AI products correlate evidence across seized devices, and Endpoint Inspector covers computers and corporate endpoints. Customers are police forces, national security agencies, prosecutors and, increasingly, corporate investigations and incident-response teams. The company is headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel, listed on Nasdaq after a 2021 SPAC merger, and files as a foreign private issuer on Form 20-F. In late 2025 it closed the ~$170 million acquisition of Corellium, whose virtualized ARM device platform is used for mobile app security research, and paired that deal with a restructuring.

Full CLBT guide

Palantir Technologies provides data integration, analytics, and AI software to government and commercial customers. The company organizes around three main platforms. Gotham is the original government-focused platform used for intelligence, defense, and law enforcement analytics. Foundry is the commercial counterpart used for enterprise data integration and analytics. Apollo is the deployment platform that ships the above to customers' environments (cloud or on-premises). The newer Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) layers generative AI workflows on top of Gotham and Foundry data, allowing customers to build AI agents on their own proprietary data.

Full PLTR guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CLBT drivers: ARR compounding on the subscription shift; AI products and the Corellium platform.
• PLTR drivers: AIP-driven commercial expansion; US government and defense.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. A useful test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The 2026 guidance cut shows how quickly this can bite: revenue depends on government budgets, so procurement freezes, continuing resolutions and election-cycle delays can push deals across quarters with no change in demand. For PLTR, the valuation reflects extraordinary expectations for AIP-driven growth and is among the highest in software: about 162x trailing earnings, 80x forward earnings and 73x sales as of mid-October 2026.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CLBT if you believe its drivers more; PLTR if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CLBT and PLTR guides.

CLBT. At about $10.91 on October 16, 2026, Cellebrite trades near 4.5x trailing revenue on enterprise value and about 17x forward earnings, well below the ~7x revenue multiple it carried in mid-2026 before the guidance cut. Consensus for 2026 is about $557 million of revenue and $0.55 of EPS, rising to roughly $641 million and $0.65 in 2027. Third-quarter results are expected around November 11, 2026, with consensus near $0.16 EPS on about $146 million of revenue; the seven covering analysts carry a mean target near $15.

PLTR. Palantir still trades at one of the highest valuations in software, though the multiple has come down from roughly 300x trailing earnings early in 2026 as profits nearly tripled. The premium rests on revenue growth that accelerated to about 93% in the June quarter, a balance sheet with about $9.4 billion of cash against little debt, and the durable government base. The multiple remains acutely sensitive to any growth slowdown, and the November 2 report is the next checkpoint.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): CLBT shows revenue (ttm) ~$514 million, revenue growth (q2 2026, yoy) ~16%, arr (q2 2026) ~$508 million, up ~21% year over year, gross / operating margin (ttm) ~83% / ~5%; PLTR shows revenue (ttm) ~$6.2 billion, revenue growth (latest quarter) ~93% year over year (Q2 2026), operating margin ~47%; profit margin ~49%, net income (ttm) ~$3.0 billion (GAAP).

CLBT and PLTR are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CLBT and PLTR exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.