Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Just Delivered Fantastic News for Palantir Investors
Key Points
Salesforce long dominated the enterprise software landscape, given its comprehensive suite of analytics tools.
Palantir has made a splash in this market in recent years, thanks to the company's artificial intelligence (AI) platforms.
Benioff had some choice words when speaking about Palantir at a recent technology conference.
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Marc Benioff is the charismatic and sometimes provocative CEO of enterprise software giant Salesforce. During a recent interview with CNBC, Benioff made a pointed remark about one of its chief competitors, data mining darling Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR).
Let's take a look at what Benioff had to say about Salesforce's rival, and why it could spell encouraging news for Palantir investors in the long run.
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What did Marc Benioff say about Palantir?
In the video clip below, Benioff zeroes in on two aspects about Palantir: its lofty valuation and the steep price tag attached to its software suite, which includes the platforms Foundry, Apollo, and Gotham.
Salesforce $CRM CEO Marc @Benioff on Palantir $PLTR:
-- Jawwwn (@jawwwn_) Sept. 13, 2025
"I am so inspired by that company. Not just because they have a 100x multiple on revenue, which I would love to have.
"But the prices they charge to their customers -- it's gotta be the most expensive enterprise software I've... pic.twitter.com/oNoJv3qFKw
Given the subtle grin, I saw Benioff's comment as more of a sarcastic jab than a serious critique. This is hardly unusual in the world of corporate rivalry. Palantir's own CEO, Alex Karp, has also been unapologetically blunt in his public remarks about competitors.
Benioff seemed to imply that Palantir's products are prohibitively expensive -- making sure to highlight a recent Army deal that Salesforce won against the company. While that is impressive, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Palantir recently secured another deal with the U.S. Army -- reportedly worth up to $10 billion over the next decade.
To me, a closer read of Benioff's words may actually highlight Palantir's pricing power -- a sign of strength rather than weakness.
Why is this good news?
Palantir's business model revolves around signing multi-year subscriptions with government agencies and large enterprises. These contracts often run into the hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars.
Long-term commitments give the company something every business covets: revenue visibility. Investors pay a premium for predictability, and Palantir delivers with a growing backlog of remaining performance obligations (RPO) that provide a clear line of sight into future cash flow.
There is also a profit margin story at play here. Like most software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses, Palantir shoulders meaningful development and implementation costs upfront. But once its systems are deployed, the incremental expense of maintaining or scaling them are nominal. That dynamic leads to steady gross margin expansion over time.
Finally, Palantir benefits from a powerful stickiness factor. Its platforms weave deeply into customer workflows, operations, and decision-making processes. With data pipelines and analytics models fully embedded, the cost and complexity of switching to a rival becomes impractical.
In my view, these are precisely the dynamics Benioff's quip unintentionally underscored: Palantir can command premium prices because its software stack has become indispensable in the digital age. In doing so, Palantir locks in attractive long-term unit economics for the business and, more importantly, for shareholders.
What does this mean for Palantir investors?
While Salesforce's core strength lies in customer relationship management (CRM) software, the company has steadily expanded into adjacent arenas such as data analytics and agentic artificial intelligence (AI).
If Salesforce sees Palantir as a genuine competitive threat, the logical outcome is that both companies will double down on product development. This type of competitive market often accelerates innovation -- a dynamic that benefits customers and can enhance the valuation of both firms in the long run.
From my perspective, Benioff's remarks serve as an inadvertent endorsement of Palantir's moat. The ability to charge premium rates while still winning multiyear contracts with an increasing number of the world's most sophisticated organizations is welcome validation, even if it comes wrapped in a bit of sarcasm.
In trying to call out Palantir's high valuation and pricing, Benioff has also reinforced the very narrative that Palantir wants the market buying into: Its software is unique, deeply integrated, and worth the investment, which explains why the company has disrupted the enterprise software landscape. For Palantir investors, that's ultimately good news.
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Adam Spatacco has positions in Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies and Salesforce. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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