The AI-focused Palantir joins a group of less than 50 public American companies worth at least $200 billion, quite the turn of events for the government contractor worth less than $20 billion two years ago.

Palantir's Q4 results were astounding, "eviscerating" (their words in the press release) the consensus. I looked that up—it means "disemboweling." Revenue skyrocketed 36% YoYr, and its free cash flow (FCF) margin hit 63%—both disemboweling consensus estimates.

What Happened? Shares of data-mining and analytics company Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) jumped 26.9% in the morning session after the company reported impressive fourth-quarter results, which blew past analysts' billings,