Sundry Photography Snowflake: Does a new leader and some new technologies signify a return to hyper growth? It has been 8 months or so since I last wrote about Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) for Seeking Alpha. I rated the shares a strong buy then - it wasn't the greatest call. The shares have essentially been flat since then, while iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), probably the most representative software ETF, has appreciated a bit less than 20% over the same time span. It hasn't been the most p ...

Key PointsSnowflake is a rapidly growing data warehouse solutions provider that enables companies to store, manage and analyze their data in a centralized cloud-based location.Snowflake shares crumbled over 20% on its fiscal 2025 guidance and the sudden replacement of CEO Frank Slootman.The new CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy, was a former Vice President of AI and Search at Google and purchased over $5 million of Snowflake stock through his trust, as disclosed on March 27, 2024.5 stocks we like better than Snowflake ...

Investors often turn to recommendations made by Wall Street analysts before making a Buy, Sell, or Hold decision about a stock. While media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm employed (or sell-side) analysts often affect a stock's price, do they really matter?Let's take a look at what these Wall Street heavyweights have to say about Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage.Snowflake currently has an average b ...

Financial Performance - Revenue for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024, was $2.8 billion, up from $2.1 billion in 2023 and $1.2 billion in 2022, indicating significant growth[88]. - Net losses for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022 were $838.0 million, $797.5 million, and $679.9 million, respectively, with an accumulated deficit of $4.1 billion as of January 31, 2024[92]. - The company anticipates fluctuations in financial results due to various factors, including demand for its platform and customer retention rates[117]. - The company has incurred substantial losses and does not expect to achieve profitability in the near future[208]. - Unfavorable global economic conditions, including inflation and geopolitical conflicts, could negatively affect business growth and cloud spending[126]. Employee and Operational Insights - The company had 7,004 employees operating across 34 countries as of January 31, 2024, with no employees represented by a labor union[78]. - The professional services business has grown larger and more complex, with a focus on customer implementation and migration from legacy solutions[131]. - The company faces challenges in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, particularly in cloud-based data platform development[134]. Research and Development - The company intends to invest significantly in research and development, particularly in data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, to drive future growth[92]. - The company is significantly investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, including internal development, acquisitions, and partnerships[102]. Market Strategy and Competition - The company’s go-to-market strategy focuses on acquiring new customers and increasing platform usage among existing customers in a highly competitive environment[93]. - The company has experienced a slowdown in revenue growth due to increased competition and changing customer consumption patterns[89]. - The competitive landscape may lead to pricing pressures from larger competitors, impacting market share and profitability[126]. - The company may experience adverse effects if it fails to keep pace with evolving customer requirements or if competitors develop superior technologies[101]. Technology and Infrastructure - The company’s platform primarily operates on public cloud infrastructure provided by AWS, Azure, and GCP, which are also competitors[95]. - The company relies on third-party public cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and GCP for its platform operations, which may expose it to additional risks if these relationships change[115]. - The company is focused on enhancing its platform's capabilities to process and share diverse data types, which is critical for customer satisfaction and competitive positioning[100]. Compliance and Regulatory Risks - The company faces increasing data governance and compliance requirements as it expands into regulated markets, which may necessitate additional operational adjustments[100]. - The company is subject to stringent and evolving data privacy and protection laws, including the EU's GDPR, which imposes strict requirements on handling personal information[182]. - Non-compliance with data privacy laws could result in fines of up to €20 million or 4% of worldwide annual revenue, whichever is greater[190]. - The company faces risks related to intellectual property protection, including potential invalidation of rights and inability to detect infringement by third parties[173]. International Operations - International customer accounts generated 23% of revenue for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024, indicating a significant reliance on international markets for growth[159]. - The company plans to expand operations in China, requiring a new operating model that may incur significant investment and operational risks[164]. - The company is subject to risks associated with geopolitical tensions, particularly in relation to operations in China, which could adversely affect business prospects[166]. Financial Management and Capital Structure - The company has authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $2.0 billion, with no expected material impact from the excise tax on repurchases[205]. - The company expects to issue additional capital stock in the future, which will result in dilution for existing stockholders[217]. - The company may require additional capital to support growth, which might not be available on favorable terms, potentially harming future investment opportunities[167]. Strategic Investments - The company's strategic investments include non-marketable equity securities valued at $190,238,000 and marketable equity securities valued at $37,320,000 as of January 31, 2024[367]. - Total strategic investments amounted to $234,365,000 as of January 31, 2024, compared to $202,936,000 in the previous year[367]. - The company plans to continue strategic investments as part of its corporate development program, anticipating additional volatility in its consolidated statements of operations due to market price changes[367].

Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Snowflake. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool. ...

Eoneren Introduction and investment thesis Last time I’ve covered Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) following its FY24 Q3 earnings release, where I rated the company’s shares as a Strong Buy. Important new product launches, some of which are already contributing to revenues combined with stabilizing consumption trends and a decreased valuation premium have been my main arguments in favor of buying shares. Although the share price reaction following the FY24 Q4 earnings release proved my previous Strong Buy recommen ...

Key PointsShares of the tech giant have been under pressure since last month’s earnings report.But having slid more than 30%, the risk/reward profile has suddenly become quite attractive. The technical indicators suggest we could be looking at a bottom being formed in the stock. 5 stocks we like better than SnowflakeWhile the rest of the stock market has been cruising toward highs in recent weeks, a handful of stocks have seen their fortunes diverge violently. That includes tech stocks, which, on the whole, ...

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) soared by 34% during the past year, and the index currently trades near its record high. However, Keith Weiss at Morgan Stanley still sees plenty of potential upside for Snowflake (SNOW -1.23%) shareholders in the next 12 months. His bull-case target of $330 per share implies an upside of 103% from the current price of $162 per share.Investors should never rely too heavily on any individual analyst's price target on a company, and even Wall Street's consensus targets should be ...

Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW), which specializes in software for cloud-based data warehousing, was recently overvalued. I tried to warn investors about Snowflake’s trailing price-to-earnings ratio and suggested that SNOW stock was vulnerable to a pullback. That pullback came to pass, but it’s still not the right time to take a share position.Sure, Snowflake as an artificial intelligence connection and, as we’ll see, the company’s quarterly financial results were pretty good. Yet, due to a surprising event and Snowf ...

Shares of Snowflake (SNOW -3.59%) tumbled at the end of February as the company not only posted unimpressive guidance, but also announced the surprise departure of CEO Frank Slootman. The stock was trading at around $230 heading into the earnings report, but Wednesday had dipped to $165. The sudden, sharp sell-off appears extreme, particularly for a stock like Snowflake that can benefit from promising long-term trends in artificial intelligence (AI), which should increase demand for its cloud-based data pla ...