What Happened:
Shares of data warehouse-as-a-service Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) jumped 5.3% in the afternoon session after the Bureau of Labor Statistics provided a revised inflation reading for December 2023, which came in lower than expected (+0.2% m/m versus the prior reading of +0.3%). This further supports the narrative that inflation is cooling, likely giving the Fed more reasons to start cutting rates in 2024.
Also, stocks continued to rally as the Nasdaq rose 1.2% and the S&P 500 gained 0.57% to end another strong week of earnings with positive results from most of the big tech stocks that reported so far this season. Notably, Meta reported strong top and bottom-line beats, hinting at a potential rebound for the advertising sector in 2024. Cloudflare also reported solid earnings with guidance for sustained growth momentum in 2024, further boosting the market's optimism toward software stocks, especially those with cloud and AI capabilities. In addition,
Overall, it was also a strong week for equities, with the S&P 500 breaking past the 5,000 level for the first time as the market continued to maintain the strong momentum from the last quarter of 2023.
As a reminder, the driver of a stock's value is the sum of its future cash flows discounted back to today. With lower interest rates, investors can apply higher valuations to their stocks. No wonder so many in the investment community are optimistic about 2024. We at StockStory remain cautious, as following the crowd can lead to adverse outcomes. During times like this, it's best to own high-quality, cash-flowing companies that can weather the ups and downs of the market.
Is now the time to buy Snowflake? Access our full analysis report here, it's free.
What is the market telling us:
Snowflake's shares are very volatile and over the last year have had 28 moves greater than 5%. In context of that, today's move is indicating the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 7 days ago, when the company gained 9.4% as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 surged after solid earnings from tech giants, including Meta (NASDAQ:META), which soared more than 20% (MAU/DAU growth, guidance beat, and dividend initiation), and Amazon (solid revenue beat).
In addition, yields surged, with the 2-year Treasury yield rising to 4.38%, while the 10-year Treasury yield broke past the 4% mark as fresh labor market data exceeded expectations. The Bureau of Labour reported non-farm payrolls for January 2024, which revealed that the US economy added 353,000 jobs (versus expectations for +185,000 jobs). The strong jobs report points to a resilient economy despite worries about the lag effects of rate hikes potentially slowing down business activities. The strong market data could cause the Fed to delay cutting rates in 2024, with market participants expecting the first rate cut to be announced in the first half of the year.
Snowflake is up 23.5% since the beginning of the year. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Snowflake's shares at the IPO in September 2020 would now be looking at an investment worth $919.54.
Do you want to know what moves the stocks you care about? Add them to your StockStory watchlist and every time a stock we cover moves more than 5%, we provide you with a timely explanation straight to your inbox. It's free and will only take you a second.