Key Points
Lumen Technologies announced a partnership with Palantir last week and had two additional partnerships to announce this week.
The company reported better-than-expected sales and earnings for Q3 but was hit with a post-earnings sell-off.
While some investors were hoping for a full-year guidance hike, the company is racking up AI wins that should power sales and earnings down the line.
Lumen (NYSE: LUMN) stock closed out this week's trading with big gains despite volatile trading Friday. The company's share price surged 27.1% higher across the stretch.
Lumen's valuation soared this week on the heels of a new partnership with Palantir and the announcement of two other deals. The company actually saw a significant pullback after it published its third-quarter earnings, but the stock regained ground after an initial valuation contraction.
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Lumen rallies on big partnership news
On Oct. 23, Lumen announced that it had entered a partnership with Palantir to support next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) network technologies for enterprises. The bullish momentum from the announcement extended into this week's trading.
Lumen then published a press release on Oct. 28 announcing that it was partnering with QTS Data Centers and would be providing infrastructure technologies to support the company's 16 data centers across the country. The next day, Lumen announced it was teaming up with Commvault on initiatives to improve enterprise data security.
Lumen shares wobbled following the company's Q3 release
Lumen issued its Q3 report after the market closed on Oct. 31, and shares pulled back the next day despite the company posting stronger-than-anticipated results. The business posted a non-GAAP (adjusted) loss of $0.20 per share on sales of $3.09 billion, topping the average analyst estimates for an adjusted loss of $0.27 on revenue of $3.04 billion.
While the Q3 print came in better than expected, some investors were hoping that the company would raise its full-year performance targets in response to sales momentum for the company's private-connectivity-fabric services. Shares lost ground early in Friday's trading but bounced back as the day progressed, allowing the stock to close out the week with huge gains.
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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.