Cloud Storage Software Maker Snowflake Files IPO

cloud storage software

Snowflake Inc., the Silicon Valley-based cloud-storage software maker, has filed an initial public offering.

“We believe in a data connected world where organizations have seamless access to explore, share, and unlock the value of data,” the company said in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Allen & Co., and Citigroup are managing the IPO and nearly two dozen investment banks. If approved, Snowflake plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol “SNOW.”

Snowflake’s SEC filing revealed that its revenue grew 148 percent in the first quarter and 122 percent in the second quarter. Sales from January through June reached $242 million, almost as much as the $265 million the firm reported for all of last year.

Still, the company reported a net loss of $348.5 million in 2019 and losses so far this year total $171.3 million.

Founded in 2012, Snowflake’s software allows companies to store and manage data in the cloud rather than on databases, CNBC reported. Its SEC filing lists Capital One, Adobe, McKesson and Sony among its high-profile customers.

In the July edition of Digital Banks and The Power Of the Cloud Tracker by PYMNTS in collaboration with NuoDBMartin Frick, managing director of APAC at Temenos, said one of the things that stands out in the pandemic is how banks and financial institution (FIs) that moved some or all operations to cloud environments fared better.

“FIs already using cloud-enabled infrastructure had an advantage in the immediate response phase,” he said. “This validated many of the claims that cloud adoption does in fact enable safe scalability and results in business agility. This was true for the immediate response but also for responses to new market opportunities in the future. It enables a fast time to market for new products and greater experimentation in adopting innovations. Since the barrier to entry is lower and commitments are shorter, it is easier to justify trialing a new idea.”

In June, Virginia-based investing advice company The Motley Fool wrote that one of the biggest beneficiaries of the work-from-home trend during the COVID-19 pandemic has been cloud computing stocks.

“Some cloud computing specialists are skyrocketing because the positive effects of coronavirus mitigation policies are obvious to any investor,” Motley Fool wrote. “The coronavirus pandemic is driving everyone toward cloud-based services faster than ever.”

The three stock recommendations include IBM, a global leader in artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies and big data.