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Key Takeaways
- Snowflake shares gained 4.2% on Thursday after KeyBanc initiated coverage of the independent cloud data warehouse and gave the stock an “overweight” rating, setting a price target of $185.
- The KeyBanc analysts cited the company’s leading position in its industry and highlighted the advantages that differentiate it from Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure.
- They added that the company’s recent CEO transition could lead to more artificial intelligence-focused leadership.
- Despite Thursday’s gains, Snowflake shares have declined 20% since the start of 2024.
Snowflake (SNOW) shares jumped more than 4% on Thursday after KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage, giving the stock an “overweight” rating and setting its price target at $185.
The analysts cited Snowflake’s leading position as an independent cloud data warehouse, saying that the company benefits from “ease-of-use, strong network effects (data sharing), instant scalability, and dynamic elasticity.”
KeyBanc noted that Snowflake is differentiated from public cloud providers, such as Amazon‘s (AMZN) AWS and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Azure “with its independence, ease of use, platform breadth, and data sharing capabilities.”
The analysts highlighted Snowflake’s “experienced management team,” noting that the company’s executive team includes veterans of Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL), Microsoft, and Oracle (ORCL).
The company’s shares tumbled in late February after the company announced Sridhar Ramaswamy as its new chief executive officer (CEO), but KeyBanc noted that the CEO transition could bring more artificial intelligence (AI)-oriented leadership.
Snowflake shares gained 4.2% to close Thursday at $159.35 Despite those gains, the stock has fallen 20% year-to-date.