Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) shares are making new 52-week highs Thursday morning. Here's a look at what's going on.

What Happened: Palantir shares are on watch Thursday after the company was awarded a new $99.8 million contract by the United States Army.

According to a contract update posted on the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD) website, Palantir has been awarded a $99.804 million firm-fixed-price contract that involves user licenses for the Maven Smart System AI tool, ancillary software support and hardware.

The DOD release states that the contract has an estimated completion date of Sept. 24, 2029. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order.

Palantir was previously awarded a $480 million firm-fixed-price contract by the U.S. Army for the Maven Smart System prototype in May. That contract has an estimated completion date of May 28, 2029.

Palantir's latest quarterly results showed that U.S. government revenue grew 24% year-over-year in the second quarter to $278 million. Total government revenue was up 23% year-over-year to $371 million.

Palantir is not due to report earnings again until sometime around the end of October. Analysts are currently forecasting earnings of 9 cents per share and revenue of $701.13 million, according to estimates from Benzinga Pro.

Palantir shares are also benefiting from strength across broader markets on the heels of a 0.5% rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. This week's 0.5% rate cut brought the target fed funds rate to a new range between 4.75% and 5%, down from a 23-year high of 5.25% to 5.5%. It was also the first rate cut since March 2020.

PLTR Price Action: Palantir shares were down 0.4% at $36.24 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Shutterstock.