Snowflake Soars 18% in a Month: Should You Buy the Stock or Wait?

Core Insights - Snowflake (SNOW) shares have increased by 17.6% over the past month, significantly outperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector's growth of 2.9% and the Zacks Internet Software industry's increase of 0.8% [1] - The growth in SNOW stock is attributed to a strong portfolio and an expanding partner base, along with high adoption rates of its platform, evidenced by a net revenue retention rate of 125% in Q2 of fiscal 2026 [1] Customer Growth - Snowflake reported a 19% year-over-year increase in the number of customers, reaching 12,062 in Q2 of fiscal 2026 [2] - The company has 654 customers with trailing 12-month product revenues exceeding $1 million and 751 customers from the Forbes Global 2000 list [2] AI Partnerships and Collaborations - Snowflake's partnerships with major companies such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), NVIDIA, and others have been crucial for its growth [5] - Collaboration with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft Azure has enhanced Snowflake's AI capabilities, with Microsoft Azure showing a 40% year-over-year growth in Q2 of fiscal 2026 [6] Product Portfolio Expansion - The company has launched approximately 250 new capabilities in the first half of fiscal 2026, including Snowflake Intelligence and Cortex AI SQL, which simplify data management and enhance performance [10] - New products like SnowConvert AI and Cortex AISQL are designed to modernize analytics and reduce costs, with Cortex AISQL providing up to 60% cost savings [9][11] Financial Guidance - For Q3 of fiscal 2026, Snowflake expects product revenues between $1.125 billion and $1.13 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth of 25% to 26% [12] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Q3 fiscal 2026 revenues is $1.18 billion, reflecting a 25.27% year-over-year growth [13] Competitive Landscape - Despite its growth, Snowflake faces stiff competition from companies like Alphabet, which offers competing solutions through its Google Cloud platform [14] - Alphabet's partnership with NVIDIA enhances its cloud offerings, posing a challenge to Snowflake's market position [15] Valuation Concerns - Snowflake shares are currently considered overvalued, with a forward 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 14.42X compared to the Internet Software industry's 5.73X [16]