Key Highlights
- SNOW shares skyrocketed over 98% throughout May, with the bulk of the rally triggered by fiscal Q1 2027 results released on May 28.
- The company posted $1.39 billion in revenue versus the $1.32 billion forecast; earnings per share reached $0.39, exceeding the $0.32 projection.
- Following Snowflake’s annual user event, Needham boosted its price objective from $300 to $330 while maintaining its Buy recommendation.
- Major institutional holders like Vanguard, Jennison Associates, and TD Asset Management expanded their SNOW holdings during recent quarters.
- Director-level insiders, including Frank Slootman and Mark Garrett, unloaded approximately $68 million worth of shares.
Shares of Snowflake began Friday’s session at $238.12, positioned substantially below the 12-month peak of $284.99 yet significantly above the yearly bottom of $118.30. The stock’s astonishing 98% monthly appreciation stems primarily from impressive quarterly results and subsequent bullish analyst revisions.
The fiscal first quarter 2027 performance served as the primary catalyst. The company generated $1.39 billion in top-line sales, surpassing the Street’s $1.32 billion projection. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.39 exceeded analyst expectations of $0.32 by seven cents. Revenue expanded 33.5% compared to the prior-year period.
CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy characterized the quarter as marking an “AI inflection point” for the business, highlighting 34% product revenue expansion. The platform welcomed 616 net new customers—a 38% annual increase—pushing the total customer base to 13,912. The company now serves 779 customers generating at least $1 million in annual revenue, representing 29% growth year over year.
Wall Street Analysts Boost Price Projections
The earnings outperformance triggered multiple upward target revisions across Wall Street. Needham elevated its price objective from $300 to $330 following Snowflake’s Summit 26 annual conference, highlighting robust traction in AI-driven offerings including Cortex Code (CoCo) and Snowflake Intelligence. Stifel made a significant adjustment from $205 to $300. Truist established a $300 benchmark. Jefferies maintained its Buy recommendation alongside a $300 target.
Barclays adopted a more conservative stance, incrementally lifting its target from $272 to $285 while keeping an equal weight designation. The Street consensus has settled at “Moderate Buy” with a mean price target of $290.87, based on MarketBeat tracking data.
Snowflake Intelligence usage more than doubled from the previous quarter. Cortex Code has already been deployed across more than 7,100 customer accounts. Company leadership indicated these dual products are experiencing the most rapid customer uptake in Snowflake’s corporate history.
The firm also announced a substantial new $6 billion multiyear contract with Amazon Web Services, adding to the $7 billion-plus in cumulative AWS Marketplace transactions. Additionally, Snowflake deepened its collaboration with Anthropic, embedding Claude language models into its Cortex AI infrastructure.
Institutional Accumulation Contrasts with Executive Divestment
Institutional activity showed widespread accumulation. TD Asset Management increased its position by 6.1% during Q4, concluding with 145,863 shares valued near $32 million. Jennison Associates expanded holdings by 27.7%, now controlling more than 11.6 million shares worth approximately $2.5 billion. Vanguard purchased an additional 1.45 million shares, elevating its total stake beyond 30 million units. Norges Bank initiated a fresh position valued at roughly $974 million. Institutional investors collectively control 65.10% of outstanding shares.
Insider transactions painted a contrasting picture. Director Mark Garrett divested 100,000 shares at $250.00 apiece on May 29, reducing his holdings by 91.9%. Director Frank Slootman sold 162,924 shares at $263.70 on June 1, trimming his position by 81.07%. Slootman’s transaction occurred under a predetermined Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement. Combined insider dispositions throughout the recent quarter totaled $346.8 million.
Analysts have identified several headwinds, including margin compression from lower-margin AI offerings, elevated valuation metrics—SNOW currently trades at 12.97x forward Price/Sales versus the sector’s 3.96x—and intensifying competitive pressures. Zacks Research presently assigns SNOW a Hold rating.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2027, management projects product revenue between $1.415 billion and $1.420 billion, representing approximately 30% annual growth.
