Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) is having a pretty good Wednesday, with shares climbing ahead of the company's third-quarter earnings release scheduled for after the bell. Wall Street is watching closely, and a couple of analysts just decided to sweeten their price targets right before the print.
The Earnings Setup
Analysts are expecting Snowflake to report earnings per share of 31 cents and revenue of $1.18 billion when it announces results Wednesday afternoon. That revenue figure would represent roughly 25.5% year-over-year growth, based on the company's own guidance of $1.125 billion to $1.13 billion in product revenue for the quarter.
The cloud data platform has a solid history of exceeding expectations. Last quarter, Snowflake posted earnings of 35 cents per share, crushing the 27-cent consensus. Revenue came in at $1.14 billion, topping estimates of $1.09 billion. The company has consistently beaten consensus on both metrics, which probably explains some of today's optimism.
"Thousands of customers are betting their business on Snowflake and more than 6,100 accounts are using Snowflake's AI every week," CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said last quarter.
"We have an enormous opportunity ahead as we continue to empower every enterprise to achieve its full potential through data and AI."
Analysts Are Feeling Bullish
Ahead of today's report, a couple of Wall Street analysts made their moves. Citigroup analyst Tyler Radke maintained a Buy rating and bumped his price target from $275 to $310. Meanwhile, Rosenblatt analyst Blair Abernethy also kept his Buy rating while raising his target from $250 to $275.
Technical Picture Looks Strong
From a technical standpoint, Snowflake is showing some impressive momentum. The stock is trading about 29% above its 200-day moving average, which typically signals strong long-term bullishness. It's also sitting comfortably above its 50-day moving average, reinforcing that upward trend.
The stock's 52-week range tells an interesting story: it's bounced from a low of $120.10 to a high of $280.67. That's nearly a double from the bottom, and the current price is creeping toward the upper end of that range. Around $280 could act as resistance, while recent trading suggests support near $256.
Wednesday's intraday action has been relatively contained. Shares opened at $262.58, touched a high of $266, and dipped to a low of $256.79. That tight range suggests investors are fairly confident about current valuation levels, at least until earnings provide more data points.
Market conditions remain favorable for growth-oriented tech stocks like Snowflake, especially as the broader technology sector continues showing resilience. The upcoming earnings report will be critical in determining whether the stock can push through that $280 resistance or if it needs to consolidate at current levels.
SNOW Price Action: At the time of writing, Snowflake shares are trading 2.51% higher at $266.21.