Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) has been likened to the Argentine professional footballer Lionel Messi of the artificial intelligence world by a prominent analyst.

What Happened: Dan Ives, the managing director at Wedbush, made the comparison in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Friday. He described Palantir as the "Messi of AI ... probably the most underestimated AI play, maybe tech play, in the market today."

Palantir Technologies stock gained over 42% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Global X Funds Global X Defense Tech ETF (NYSE:SHLD) and ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK).

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Why It Matters: On Thursday, Palantir's stock shrugged off a sell call from Jim Cramer and continued to rise. This came after the company's CEO, Alex Karp, boldly stated that Palantir had no competitors in the U.S. commercial and government markets.

Palantir's CEO, Alex Karp, has also been vocal about the company's dominance in the AI sector. Despite the fluctuations, Palantir's stock has been a popular choice among investors. Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest recently bought shares of the company, while also selling off holdings in other tech companies.

Meanwhile, speculations remain rife over the potential inclusion of Palantir into the S&P 500 index.

Price Action: Palantir closed at $21.73, marking a 3.77% increase on Thursday. After hours, the price slightly dipped to $21.70, down 0.14%. Year to date, the stock has gained 31.06%, according to the data from Benzinga Pro.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote