Data Cloud Company Exceeds Expectations
Snowflake Inc raised its annual product revenue forecast on Wednesday, signaling strong demand for its [data cloud platform](https://www.snowflake.com/product/), and announced a $2.5 billion share repurchase program, sending its shares up 14% in extended trading.
The company now expects fiscal 2025 product revenue between $3.35 billion and $3.40 billion, up from its previous forecast of $3.25 billion to $3.32 billion.
Solid Growth in Cloud Data Solutions
Snowflake, which counts nearly 700 of the Global 2000 companies as its customers, competes with established players such as [Amazon's AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/), [Microsoft's Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/), and [Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/) in the rapidly expanding cloud data market. The company helps businesses organize, manage, and analyze their data across multiple cloud platforms.
Product revenue, which accounts for most of Snowflake's total revenue, rose 33% to $765.9 million in the first quarter, surpassing analysts' average estimate of $752-million, according to LSEG data.
Leadership Transition and AI Integration
The strong results come during a period of leadership transition for Snowflake. In February, the company announced that CEO Frank Slootman would retire and be replaced by former Google executive Sridhar Ramaswamy.
"Sridhar is the right leader to take Snowflake through its next phase of growth at a time when the company is doubling down on its AI-driven capabilities," said Canaccord Genuity analyst David Hynes.
Under Ramaswamy, Snowflake has been focusing on integrating [AI capabilities](https://www.snowflake.com/product/snowflake-ai/) into its platform to help companies build, run, and operate AI applications using their data.
Financial Performance
The Montana-based company reported adjusted earnings of 14 cents per share for the quarter ended April 30, compared with estimates of 6 cents. Revenue for the same period came in at $828.7 million, exceeding analyst expectations of $786.9 million.
Snowflake's remaining performance obligations—a measure of future revenue under contract—grew 42% year-over-year to $5.2 billion, demonstrating strong customer commitments.
The newly announced $2.5 billion share repurchase program reflects management's confidence in the company's long-term prospects and commitment to delivering shareholder value.
