Why BigBear.ai Stock Is Plummeting Today

BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI) stock is seeing a big pullback Thursday. The software company's share price was down 9.4% as of 1:45 p.m. ET amid a 0.8% decline for both the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC). The stock had been down as much as 14.5% earlier in trading.

BigBear.ai's valuation is tumbling today in conjunction with a sell-off in the broader market triggered by concerning guidance from Walmart. Sell-offs for Palantir Technologies may also be factoring into BigBear.ai's pullback.

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While the stock is sliding today, the tech specialist did actually have some good news for investors.

BigBear.ai stock slides as Walmart issues a warning

As the U.S.'s largest retailer by revenue, Walmart's performance and forward guidance are often looked to as economic bellwethers. So while the company might not appear to have an immediate connection to BigBear.ai and other tech players, the retail giant's quarterly reports often have a significant impact on overall market sentiment.

Despite beating Wall Street's sales and earnings targets for the fourth quarter, Walmart issued a cautious outlook for 2025. On the heels of 5.6% annual sales growth last year, the retailer expects annual growth this year to decelerate to between 3% and 4%. The guidance is prompting concerns among investors, and BigBear.ai and other companies with heavily growth-dependent valuations are seeing big stock pullbacks.

Palantir's stock movement may also be weighing on BigBear.ai's share price. BigBear.ai sometimes sees movements in conjunction with Palantir stock because the companies have some overlap in their corner of the artificial intelligence (AI) software market. Palantir stock was down 7.9% as of 1:45 p.m ET.

Some good news for BigBear.ai investors today

BigBear.ai announced today that it has won a contract to provide facial biometric identity verification services for SoftPoint. The technology will be integrated into the SoftPointPay platform and help improve security and cut down on fraudulent transactions. While the contract win hasn't been enough to stop significant sell-offs for BigBear.ai stock today, it's still a positive development for the company.

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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 and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.