
Snowflake Stock Price Forecast - (NYSE:SNOW) Soars 18% on AI Momentum and Revenue Boost
Raised guidance, record highs, and analyst upgrades fuel bullish outlook for Snowflake shares | That's TradingNEWS
Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) Surges on AI Momentum, Guidance Hike, and Record Highs
Q2 Results Push NYSE:SNOW to 52-Week Highs
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) has staged one of its sharpest rallies of the year, soaring more than 17% to a new 52-week high of $240.53 after delivering Q2 earnings that met expectations and raising its fiscal 2026 outlook. Product revenue for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion, in line with consensus estimates, and total revenue reached $1.145 billion, exceeding Wall Street projections by $50 million. Management lifted fiscal 2026 product revenue guidance to $4.4 billion, up from the prior $4.3 billion, underscoring confidence in accelerating demand for its AI-enabled data cloud solutions. The rally pushed the company’s market capitalization to $78.6 billion, representing a 75% gain year-to-date and nearly 80% over the past twelve months.
AI Spending Transitions From Pilot to Permanent Budgets
A central driver of the guidance upgrade is the structural shift in enterprise IT budgets. AI spending that was once experimental is now being embedded permanently into annual technology allocations, a trend that Snowflake is directly benefiting from. CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy emphasized the traction of Snowflake’s cloud-agnostic platform, which enables enterprises to unify and analyze data across AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. Azure in particular delivered 40% year-over-year growth for Snowflake in the EMEA region, helping accelerate international adoption. With enterprises standardizing AI workloads into recurring budgets, Snowflake is positioned to capture sustained, rather than transitory, consumption growth.
Innovation Pipeline Expands With Gen2 and Cortex AI
Product development has been central to Snowflake’s performance. The rollout of Gen2 virtual data warehouses introduced performance improvements of 2.1x in core analytics and 4.4x in DML operations compared to standard warehouses, offering higher-margin opportunities as adoption scales. The launch of Cortex AI services, including Cortex Search, Cortex Analyst, and Cortex Agents, further integrates retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and natural language query into the data cloud. These tools allow enterprise users to orchestrate AI workflows without moving data outside Snowflake’s governance layer, reducing friction and expanding consumption.
Snowflake also expanded its industry-specific data clouds, targeting verticals such as manufacturing, government, education, and financial services. By embedding AI-ready data solutions in these sectors, the company aims to increase customer stickiness and monetization across highly regulated industries.
Financial Performance Shows Growth and Margin Pressures
Despite the revenue beat, profitability remains a work in progress. Over the trailing twelve months, Snowflake reported $3.84 billion in revenue, up 25.7% year-over-year, with gross profit of $2.55 billion. Yet operating losses widened to $1.55 billion, reflecting ongoing infrastructure investments and higher AI hardware costs. Net income remained negative at –$1.39 billion, translating to a diluted EPS of –$4.20. Analysts expect this loss trajectory to narrow, with consensus forecasts calling for FY2026 EPS of $1.19 and revenue of $4.61 billion, representing growth of more than 27%. Looking ahead to FY2027, Street estimates project revenue at $5.66 billion, implying growth of 22.9%.
On the balance sheet, Snowflake exited Q1 with $3.9 billion in cash and equivalents against $2.27 billion in debt, leaving a net cash position of $1.6 billion. The company also reported remaining performance obligations (RPO) of $6.7 billion, a 34% increase year-over-year, reflecting robust forward demand.
Analyst Targets Push Higher After Earnings Beat
The earnings beat and guidance lift prompted a wave of analyst revisions. KeyBanc raised its target to $275, Cantor Fitzgerald also lifted to $275, Rosenblatt set $250, and Stifel went to $260, all with Buy ratings. Bernstein, while more cautious, acknowledged the upside by adjusting to $221. The consensus 12-month target now averages $253.69, with a high forecast of $440, reflecting wide divergence on valuation but an overall bullish bias.
Valuation and Competitive Landscape
At current levels, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) trades at 17.35x price-to-sales, a premium relative to software peers but down significantly from historical multiples above 20x. The forward P/E based on FY2026 EPS estimates sits at 178.6x, reflecting investors’ willingness to pay for growth despite current losses. The company’s PEG ratio of 11.9 highlights the premium nature of the stock, though moderating valuations have made shares more appealing compared to prior years.
Competition remains intense, particularly from Databricks and hyperscalers such as Microsoft and Google, who are bundling AI solutions directly into their cloud ecosystems. Snowflake’s differentiation lies in unifying governance, analytics, and AI orchestration within a single platform. Its consumption model means every incremental AI workflow directly expands revenue, while the emerging Snowflake Marketplace for native apps and skills could open new monetization streams through take-rate economics.
Insider and Institutional Activity
Snowflake insiders currently hold about 4.08% of shares, with institutions controlling 72.3%. Investors can monitor insider moves directly via the insider transactions page. Short interest stands at 3.2% of float, modest relative to average levels, indicating limited bearish pressure at present.
Verdict on NYSE:SNOW Stock
Snowflake’s rally to $236–$240 reflects a combination of stronger-than-expected Q2 results, an upgraded FY2026 revenue guide, expanding AI monetization pathways, and a still-robust pipeline of enterprise adoption. While margin pressures from infrastructure costs and competitive risk from hyperscalers cannot be ignored, the company’s strategic positioning as the “factory floor” for enterprise AI workflows offers a differentiated long-term growth story. At current valuations, the risk-reward tilts bullish. Based on the earnings trajectory, rising analyst targets, and accelerating AI adoption, NYSE:SNOW is best characterized as a Buy, with upside potential toward the $275–$300 range over the next 12 months if execution remains consistent.