Latest news with #SridharRamaswamy
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Snowflake Stock Is on Fire. But Can the Momentum Last?
Key Points Management is investing aggressively in key growth opportunities. Investors love Snowflake's emphasis on AI. The stock's valuation is questionable. 10 stocks we like better than Snowflake › With artificial intelligence (AI) seeming to be one of the major investing themes of 2025, it's no surprise that AI and data platform specialist Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) has seen its shares soar this year. As of this writing, the stock is up nearly 40% year to date. This is far ahead of the S&P 500's rise of about 7%. Investors love the tech company's increased focus on AI and its rapid revenue growth. But have investor expectations risen too high? After all, the company is still reporting massive quarterly losses, even as its market capitalization sits at about $72 billion. A true growth stock To be fair, Snowflake's losses are intentional. As Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy stated during the company's most recent earnings call (the first quarter of fiscal 2026), Snowflake is investing "aggressively in growth." Just as is the case with most growth stocks, today's investments are about the future. "We are building our strength in executing with urgency and focus to capture the opportunities ahead and sustain durable momentum," the CEO added. As long as the company continues growing rapidly, investors will likely be forgiving when it comes to losses. After all, Wall Street hopes Snowflake can grow at high rates for years to come. Fiscal first-quarter product revenue, which rose 26% year over year to nearly $1 billion, was notable. Importantly, the growth rate was far higher than what management had guided for. Going into the quarter, the company had stated that it expected product revenue to increase 21% to 22% year over year. The big difference in Snowflake's reported growth and management's guidance is likely one reason the stock has done so well this year. Importantly, management believes the AI and data platform company's business momentum will remain strong in fiscal Q2. The company's guidance was significantly more upbeat this time around, with management forecasting 25% year-over-year revenue growth for the period. Show me the money While it's great to see Snowflake's revenue growing rapidly and management guiding for more of the same in fiscal Q2, investors shouldn't ignore the company's disappointing bottom line. The company's net loss is moving in the wrong direction. First of all, Snowflake's fiscal first-quarter net loss was $430 million -- much worse than its $318 million loss in the year-ago quarter. Even worse, however, is how Snowflake's net loss is shaping up as a percentage of revenue. The loss amounted to 41% of revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, up from 38% of revenue in the year-ago period. Until Snowflake's losses begin to improve rapidly, measured as a percentage of sales, investors have the right to be concerned about the sustainability of the tech company's business model. Snowflake's lack of operational leverage to date, therefore, makes the tech stock one worth avoiding for now. Simply put: Shares look overvalued. Sure, it's possible that the stock's momentum persists and investors who don't buy the stock today miss out. But given how significant Snowflake's losses are relative to its substantial market capitalization of about $72 billion at the time of this writing, it makes sense to hope for a significant pullback in the stock price before taking a position in this growth story. Of course, investors might want to consider paying up for Snowflake's premium valuation if the company begins to demonstrate consistent and clear operating leverage. If the company can pull this off, shares could continue to rise faster than the S&P 500. But this is a big if. Unless this occurs, investors should remind themselves that it's perfectly fine to admire a business while avoiding the stock. Price matters. Unfortunately, this growth stock is priced for perfection, even as its bottom line is moving in the wrong direction. Should you buy stock in Snowflake right now? Before you buy stock in Snowflake, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Snowflake wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $665,092!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,050,477!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,055% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Daniel Sparks and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Snowflake. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Snowflake Stock Is on Fire. But Can the Momentum Last? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2 Top Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy This Summer
Written by Aditya Raghunath at The Motley Fool Canada Investing in mega trends such as artificial intelligence (AI) enables you to gain exposure to companies that are part of rapidly expanding addressable markets. In this article, I have identified two top AI stocks that Canadian investors should consider owning in July 2025. Valued at a market capitalization of US$74 billion, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) operates a cloud-agnostic data platform that enables organizations to consolidate, analyze, and share data across multiple cloud environments, while supporting AI and analytics workloads. Snowflake has demonstrated strong momentum, showcasing transformative product velocity and deepening AI integration across its platform. Snowflake delivered over 125 new product capabilities in the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal 2026, doubling the pace of innovation from the previous year while achieving 26% year-over-year growth in product revenue, which reached US$997 million. CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy emphasized Snowflake's evolution from a data warehouse provider to an AI-first enterprise platform. Over 5,200 accounts now utilize Cortex AI capabilities every week, with applications spanning clinical research, customer insights, and business automation. The platform's AI-ready data approach positions structured and unstructured data for immediate AI consumption, addressing a critical enterprise need. The company's cloud-agnostic positioning distinguishes it from hyperscaler competitors, who often promote proprietary solutions. New offerings, such as Snowflake Intelligence and enhanced Apache Iceberg integration, provide customers with flexibility while reducing concerns about vendor lock-in. Chief Revenue Officer Mike Gannon highlighted customer success stories, including contractors who improved bid processing from one every three days to 100 daily by utilizing AI-powered analytics. Snowflake is broadening its addressable market through specialized solutions for the government and automotive sectors. Its consumption-based model benefits from increased workload complexity and AI-driven use cases, with customers viewing data infrastructure as essential for business transformation rather than operational overhead. Snowflake is forecast to increase sales from US$3.62 billion in fiscal 2025 to US$10.1 billion in fiscal 2030. In this period, its free cash flow (FCF) is forecast to grow from US$844 million to US$4 billion. If the tech stock is priced at 40 times forward FCF, it could more than double over the next four years. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) designs and manufactures microprocessors, graphics processors, and related semiconductor technologies for data centres, PCs, gaming, and embedded systems worldwide. The semiconductor giant demonstrated strong momentum at its Advancing AI 2025 event, unveiling the MI350 Series accelerators and previewing the transformative MI400 Series for 2026. CEO Lisa Su emphasized AMD's position in the rapidly expanding AI market, with data center AI accelerator TAM expected to exceed $500 billion by 2028, driven primarily by inference workloads growing over 80% annually. AMD's MI355 flagship accelerator delivers a massive four times generational performance leap with industry-leading 288GB of memory, capable of running 520 billion parametre models on a single graphics processing unit. The chip provides up to 40% better cost per token than competitors, positioning AMD firmly in the inference market. Early customer deployments at xAI, Meta, Oracle, and Microsoft validate the platform's production readiness. Strategic partnerships with open-source frameworks, such as vLLM and SGLang, demonstrate competitive advantages over proprietary alternatives, enabling customers to achieve superior throughput on AMD hardware. With Q1 revenue up 36% to US$7.4 billion and data centre segment growth of 57%, AMD appears well-positioned to capitalize on the AI infrastructure buildout while maintaining its commitment to open, programmable computing architectures. AMD is forecast to increase sales from US$25.8 billion in 2024 to US$56 billion in 2029. In this period, its FCF is forecast to grow from US$2.41 billion to US$15.2 billion. If the tech stock is priced at 30 times forward FCF, it could gain close to 100% over the next four years. The post 2 Top Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy This Summer appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor Canada analyst team just identified what they believe are the Top Stocks for 2025 and Beyond for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn't one of them. The Top Stocks that made the cut could potentially produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider MercadoLibre, which we first recommended on January 8, 2014 ... if you invested $1,000 in the 'eBay of Latin America' at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $24,927.94!* Stock Advisor Canada provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month – one from Canada and one from the U.S. The Stock Advisor Canada service has outperformed the return of S&P/TSX Composite Index by 30 percentage points since 2013*. See the Top Stocks * Returns as of 6/23/25 More reading 10 Stocks Every Canadian Should Own in 2025 [PREMIUM PICKS] Market Volatility Toolkit A Commonsense Cash Back Credit Card We Love Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Fool contributor Aditya Raghunath has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Oracle, and Snowflake. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2025
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Revealing Analyst Questions From Snowflake's Q1 Earnings Call
Snowflake's first quarter results were marked by strong revenue and profitability, with management attributing the positive momentum to expanding adoption of its AI and data cloud platform across large enterprise customers. CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy emphasized the company's focus on 'driving product cohesion and extending value throughout the data life cycle.' He highlighted new customer wins, the rapid rollout of over 125 product capabilities, and continued momentum in data engineering and analytics as key factors supporting growth. Is now the time to buy SNOW? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $1.04 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.01 billion (25.7% year-on-year growth, 3.4% beat) Adjusted EPS: $0.24 vs analyst estimates of $0.21 (13.1% beat) Adjusted Operating Income: $91.66 million vs analyst estimates of $52.66 million (8.8% margin, 74.1% beat) Product Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $1.04 billion at the midpoint Operating Margin: -42.9%, in line with the same quarter last year Customers: 606 customers paying more than $1 million annually Net Revenue Retention Rate: 124%, down from 126% in the previous quarter Billings: $770.1 million at quarter end, up 36.1% year on year Market Capitalization: $75.34 billion While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Sanjit Singh (Morgan Stanley): Asked about consumption trends and monetization of Cortex AI, to which CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy clarified that AI features drive value within existing contracts rather than through separate sales. Kirk Materne (Evercore ISI): Inquired about drivers behind Snowpark and Dynamic Tables adoption, with Ramaswamy attributing success to both product innovation and targeted sales enablement efforts. Raimo Lenschow (Barclays): Questioned strategies for data consolidation versus multi-vendor environments. Ramaswamy acknowledged customer demand for unified platforms and highlighted Snowflake's approach to ease-of-use and integration. Karl Keirstead (UBS): Asked about the impact of macroeconomic conditions and post-COVID optimization. CFO Mike Scarpelli responded that Snowflake's customer base has become more cost-conscious and mature, but current macro factors have not significantly affected demand. Kasthuri Rangan (Goldman Sachs): Probed net revenue retention trends despite new product launches. Scarpelli explained that growth from newer customers and variable expansion rates among large accounts influence the metric's trajectory. In upcoming quarters, the StockStory team will be watching (1) the adoption and monetization pace of new AI and analytics products like Cortex and Snowpark, (2) expansion into regulated sectors such as government and automotive with dedicated solutions, and (3) the company's ability to sustain margin improvements while investing in innovation and customer acquisition. Execution at the annual Snowflake Summit and updates on customer migration trends will also be key signposts. Snowflake currently trades at $225.21, up from $179.15 just before the earnings. In the wake of this quarter, is it a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it's free). Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs. While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Stanley Raised The PT on Snowflake Inc. (SNOW), Maintains a Buy Rating
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is one of the . On June 24, analyst Sanjit Singh from Morgan Stanley raised the price target on Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) from $220 to $262, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The improved outlook is based on the company's performance under CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Analyst Singh noted that Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) has improved its execution across sales, go-to-market strategies, and product engineering, which has stabilized the company's product revenue growth to a high 20% range. Moreover, the has also enhanced its innovation across various high-growth sectors including cloud data warehousing, data engineering, and AI/ML platforms. A software engineer at work, surrounded by a wall of computer monitors connected to a 'Data Cloud' platform. Singh projects durable growth exceeding 20% annually through 2030, supported by expanding operating margins and a clear strategy to tap into a $300+ billion market opportunity. During the fiscal first quarter of 2026, Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) grew its product revenue by 26% year-over-year to reach $996.8 million. The company also maintained a net revenue retention rate of 124%. Looking ahead, management anticipates second-quarter revenue between $1.035 billion to $1.040 billion, indicating 25% growth. While we acknowledge the potential of SNOW as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Stanley Raised The PT on Snowflake Inc. (SNOW), Maintains a Buy Rating
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is one of the . On June 24, analyst Sanjit Singh from Morgan Stanley raised the price target on Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) from $220 to $262, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The improved outlook is based on the company's performance under CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Analyst Singh noted that Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) has improved its execution across sales, go-to-market strategies, and product engineering, which has stabilized the company's product revenue growth to a high 20% range. Moreover, the has also enhanced its innovation across various high-growth sectors including cloud data warehousing, data engineering, and AI/ML platforms. A software engineer at work, surrounded by a wall of computer monitors connected to a 'Data Cloud' platform. Singh projects durable growth exceeding 20% annually through 2030, supported by expanding operating margins and a clear strategy to tap into a $300+ billion market opportunity. During the fiscal first quarter of 2026, Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) grew its product revenue by 26% year-over-year to reach $996.8 million. The company also maintained a net revenue retention rate of 124%. Looking ahead, management anticipates second-quarter revenue between $1.035 billion to $1.040 billion, indicating 25% growth. While we acknowledge the potential of SNOW as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None.
