Aug 5 (Reuters) - Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) raised

its annual revenue forecast for the second time this year on

Monday, the latest sign that the generative AI boom is driving

up demand for its software services from governments and

corporate clients.

The data analytics company also forecast third-quarter sales

above estimates and reported its largest ever quarterly profit,

in the April-to-June period, CEO Alex Karp said in a letter to

shareholders.

Its AI platform, used to test, debug code and evaluate

AI-related scenarios, has enabled Palantir ( PLTR ) to tap into the

surging demand for services that help companies develop

generative AI technology.

The company co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel now

expects annual revenue between $2.74 billion and $2.75 billion,

compared with $2.68 billion to $2.69 billion expected earlier.

The forecast is above the estimate of $2.70 billion, according

to LSEG data.

It also raised its annual revenue expectation from

U.S.-based companies by $11 million, to $672 million.

Chief Revenue Officer Ryan Taylor told Reuters Palantir was

driving growth by helping companies overcome "the huge

bottleneck" between AI application prototypes and finished

products that could be deployed to customers.

Palantir's ( PLTR ) shares, which have risen more than 39% in 2024,

slipped nearly 9% last week after earnings reports from Big Tech

firms such as Microsoft ( MSFT ) signaled that payoffs from huge

AI bets could take longer to materialize than investors had

initially hoped.

The company forecast third-quarter revenue between $697

million and $701 million, compared to analysts' average estimate

of $679.1 million, according to LSEG data.

It has been working to reduce its dependence on

government clients, which made up about 54% of total

second-quarter sales.

"For the first time in our company's history, the

trailing twelve-month revenue in our U.S. government business -

including defense and intelligence agencies - surpassed $1

billion," CEO Karp said in a letter to shareholders.

Palantir ( PLTR ), which works closely with governments to provide

software to visualize army positions, among other services,

recorded a 33% growth in revenue from companies in the reported

quarter.