Palantir's latest SEC filing values firm around $10.5 billion — roughly half of its private valuation in 2015

• Palantir's updated prospectus, which includes the latest details on its shares outstanding and average share price, sets the company's valuation at roughly $10.5 billion.
• Yet past valuations have pegged the firm's worth as low as $7.8 billion and as high as $20.3 billion.
• Palantir's murky valuation is set to be clarified later this month when the firm completes a direct listing and shares begin trading publicly.
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Details in Palantir's updated prospectus reveal a multibillion-dollar disparity between how private shareholders most recently valued the company and its loftier 2015 valuation.

The data-mining company published a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that shed more light on its plans to enter public markets. The document showed the number of shares outstanding climbed to 1.64 billion in the third quarter from 1.53 billion. Based on a volume-weighted average price over the quarter of $6.45, private investors valued Palantir around $10.5 billion.

That figure stands in stark contrast to its past valuations. Palantir touted a $20.3 billion valuation in 2015 after raising $880 million in a private funding round. At the time, the round established Palantir as the fourth-highest valued tech startup after Airbnb, Xiaomi, and Uber.

CNBC first reported on Palantir's valuation disparity.

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The Wednesday filing calls other prior valuations into question. For one, Palantir's $410.5 million stock sale in July priced shares at $4.75 each. That level sets a valuation of roughly $7.8 billion.

The third quarter's average sale price sits in a range that includes shares trading hands for as much as $11.50 each and as little as $4.17 each. Accounting for the 1.64 million shares outstanding, the price range leaves Palantir trading privately for $6.8 billion to $18.8 billion.

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Murkiness around Palantir's valuation will likely subside once the firm's shares begin trading publicly. The data giant aims to go public later this month through a direct listing instead of a traditional IPO. Such listing allows a company to enter public markets without selling new shares.

While the firm doesn't raise any new funds, it grants existing shareholders an easier way to sell their positions. Palantir would also gain the ability to publicly sell shares later on.

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