Data-cloud platform company Snowflake (SNOW -0.15%) impressed investors with its fiscal third-quarter earnings report this week. Shares of the growth stock managed to rise nearly 8% by the time the market closed Thursday -- the first trading day following the company's earnings report. Making the move even more impressive, it occurred on a day the S&P 500 declined slightly.
Here's a close look at some of the reasons why the company continues to stand out to investors following the earnings report.
1. Rapid growth
First and foremost, there's Snowflake's rapid growth. After guiding for its product revenue to grow 60% to 62% year over year, the company actually grew product revenue 67% to $523 million. Total revenue was $557 million, also increasing 67% year over year.
"Data is becoming deeply ingrained in how global enterprises think, act, decide, and strategize," said Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman in the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings call when discussing the company's momentum. "Snowflake's Data Cloud strongly resonates in large enterprises and institutions," he added.
2. Tons of cash
Another strength of the company is its balance sheet. Snowflake ended the quarter with $4.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term and long-term investments. Even more, the tech giant carries no debt.
Going forward, this cash position is likely to remain robust as Snowflake operates its business with positive cash flow. The company generated $65 million of free cash flow -- the cash flow after regular operations and capital expenditures are taken care of.
3. No layoffs
In one more important point, the company has been able to continue hiring, while many other tech companies have had to either pause hiring or lay off employees. The tech industry shed nearly 10,000 jobs in October, according to consulting firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, and that number may have increased in November. But Snowflake has been taking advantage of this.
"Year to date, we've added over 1,500 net new employees," said Snowflake chief financial officer Mike Scarpelli in the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings call this week. "We view the current hiring market as favorable for Snowflake, and we'll continue to focus hiring in product, engineering, and sales."
Looking forward, Snowflake expects to slow hiring. It anticipates adding 1,000 net new employees in fiscal 2024. But this isn't a bad thing. Indeed, it's one of the company's first major demonstrations of scale since its initial public offering.
If it believes it can continue investing in its business and serving its customers while slowing the pace of hiring, Snowflake's operating margin should improve significantly next year. Indeed, that's what management is saying it expects.
Not everything was positive in the update, however. Snowflake's revenue guidance was underwhelming, showing it's not immune to a deteriorating macro environment.
Management said it expects fiscal fourth-quarter product revenue to increase 49% to 50% year over year, representing the company's lowest growth rate, by far, since the company went public in 2020. But Snowflake's strong cash position, rapid growth, and its confidence to continue hiring when many others are doing layoffs is enough reason for investors to overlook this slowing growth for now.
