Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) is likely one of the most carefully adopted software program corporations available in the market. The corporate competes with the likes of Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Oracle Database, and unicorn start-up Databricks.
Snowflake turned a family title for expertise buyers following its document IPO back in 2020. Somewhat greater than a yr previous to its public market debut, Snowflake appointed Silicon Valley legend Frank Slootman as its CEO.
Whereas Slootman is essentially credited with Snowflake’s success since going public, buyers had been hit with some stunning information following the discharge of the corporate’s fourth-quarter earnings report.
Slootman is stepping down as CEO of Snowflake, efficient instantly. Whereas he’ll stay Chairman of the Board, buyers do not seem too thrilled. Let’s dig into this stunning improvement and assess the way it may influence buyers.
1. Slootman is a expertise legend, however…
Co-founders are one of many hallmarks of well-known expertise corporations. Microsoft was led by its founder, Invoice Gates, for a number of years earlier than he handed the keys to Steve Ballmer in 2000. Equally, Larry Web page, who co-founded Alphabet (then known as Google), has had a number of stints within the CEO place.
Whereas Slootman has earned an distinctive fame as a tech government, he doesn’t have the identical expertise as a few of his cohorts. Slootman has spent a superb portion of his profession within the C-Suite, however not essentially as an precise product builder or founder.
Earlier than becoming a member of Snowflake, Slootman served as CEO of knowledge expertise (IT) information firm ServiceNow, and previous to that, he was CEO of Information Area (which is now a part of Dell Applied sciences).
In response to firm press releases, Slootman’s successor will likely be Sridhar Ramaswamy, who lately served because the Senior Vice President of AI at Snowflake. Ramaswamy joined Snowflake final yr, as a part of the corporate’s acquisition of AI start-up Neeva, which he co-founded. Ramaswamy’s expertise as a co-founder (though not of Snowflake precisely) may convey one thing to the desk that Slootman did not as the corporate appears to be like to maneuver into its subsequent section of progress past information warehousing.
Though Ramaswamy boasts a powerful resume of his personal, buyers appear lower than enthusiastic concerning the transition for the time being. As of now, Snowflake inventory is down over 20% after hours following the announcement of Slootman’s resignation. Nevertheless, this transition appears to sign the corporate’s give attention to leveraging synthetic intelligence (AI) in its enterprise going ahead.
2. What’s subsequent for Snowflake?
Snowflake has its eyes on the AI market like lots of its friends. Huge information analytics friends, together with Palantir, Microsoft, and others, have all showcased how demand for synthetic intelligence AI functions is fueling a brand new wave of progress.
For the 12 months ended Jan. 31, Snowflake reported whole income of $2.8 billion — a rise of 33% yr over yr. The corporate’s software program providers elevated 38% in 2023, reaching $2.7 billion. On high of that, the corporate ended the yr with $5.2 billion in remaining efficiency obligations (RPO) and expects to acknowledge half of that as income throughout the subsequent yr.
The obtrusive challenge that I see in Snowflake’s enterprise is its internet income retention fee (NRR). It is a ratio that measures how a lot income an organization retains internet of any churn that it experiences. If the ratio is above 100%, this suggests that the corporate is outselling its churn. Snowflake’s NRR is 131%; nonetheless, it has really declined in seven straight quarters.
Whereas Slootman appears to be departing at a time when Snowflake wants some assist sustaining its income base, there are some silver linings.
First, analysis agency Gartner is projecting that worldwide tech spend will attain $6.5 trillion by 2027. Amongst this price range, IT and software program providers are anticipated to be the biggest cohorts. This could function a bellwether for corporations like Snowflake.
Furthermore, as synthetic intelligence turns into extra distinguished in tech shares, I see it as extremely possible that spending on cloud-based merchandise will witness unprecedented acceleration over the following a number of years.
I feel Snowflake has a greenfield alternative to learn from the secular tailwinds pushing the AI market. Nevertheless, the large query revolves round Ramaswamy and his potential to execute.
For now, I feel buyers are greatest suited on the sidelines and may assess Snowflake’s progress in a post-Slootman world within the coming quarters. If the corporate is ready to seize a significant share of the AI market, buyers can have ample alternative to purchase the inventory and luxuriate in long-term returns.
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Suzanne Frey, an government at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Idiot’s board of administrators. John Mackey, former CEO of Entire Meals Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Idiot’s board of administrators. Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir Applied sciences. The Motley Idiot has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Palantir Applied sciences, ServiceNow, and Snowflake. The Motley Idiot recommends Gartner and recommends the next choices: lengthy January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and brief January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Idiot has a disclosure policy.
2 Things Snowflake Investors Need to Know About CEO Frank Slootman’s Surprise Resignation was initially revealed by The Motley Idiot
