Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) strengthened its position as an AI-driven software growth story after delivering stronger-than-expected first-quarter fiscal 2027 results, prompting BNP Paribas analyst Stefan Slowinski to raise his forecasts.
Slowinski Sees Snowflake Re-Establishing Itself As An AI Winner
Slowinski said Snowflake's first-quarter fiscal 2027 performance firmly returned the company to the "AI winner" category after product revenue grew 34%, well above management's 27% guidance.
The analyst said Snowflake's results firmly placed the company back in the "AI winner camp".
He highlighted broad-based momentum across Snowflake's core data warehousing business and newer AI offerings, particularly Cortex Code, while noting that accelerating adoption and higher platform usage are supporting growth.
He also said AI is helping drive customer migrations to Snowflake and reducing concerns that AI could displace the company's role in enterprise data infrastructure.
Investor Day Shifts Focus To Margins And Spending Discipline
Looking ahead to Snowflake's upcoming Investor Day, Slowinski said investors will focus on whether management can reinforce the durability of the company's growth trajectory.
While he does not expect major long-term financial targets, he believes the event could provide greater visibility into margin expansion, hiring plans, stock-based compensation discipline, and Snowflake's ability to balance accelerating growth with improving profitability.
BNP Paribas Raises Forecasts And Price Forecast
BNP Paribas increased its fiscal 2027 product revenue growth forecast to 33.5% from 30%, reflecting stronger expectations for both core and AI-related revenue streams.
Slowinski also raised his price forecast on Snowflake to $282 from $226 while maintaining an Outperform rating.
He based the higher valuation on a 2.3% free cash flow yield and argued that Snowflake's ability to sustain revenue growth above 30% warrants a premium valuation within the software sector.
Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price forecast of $283.10. Recent analyst moves include:
- HSBC: Upgraded to Buy (Raises forecast to $289.00) (May 29)
- Macquarie: Neutral (Raises forecast to $200.00) (May 28)
- UBS: Buy (Raises forecast to $325.00) (May 28)
Snowflake is extended versus its trend gauges, trading about 55% above its 20-day SMA ($160.20) and about 22.5% above its 200-day SMA ($202.72), which frames the current move as momentum-driven rather than a "near support" bounce.
Even with the longer-term uptrend over the past year (up 22.73%), the stock is still carrying a bearish overhang from the death cross that formed in February (the 50-day SMA remains below the 200-day SMA).
RSI is the cleaner momentum read right now: at 84.81, it signals the stock is overbought, meaning the recent run has become stretched and more vulnerable to sharp pullbacks or sideways digestion.
In this setup, traders often watch whether strength can hold without giving back key levels, because overbought conditions can persist-but they also raise the odds of a fast reset if buyers step away.
- Key Resistance: $255.50 - a nearby pivot area where upside attempts can stall, especially with price already stretched above short- and long-term averages
- Key Support: $214.00 - a prior area where buyers stepped in, and a level that would matter if the stock starts mean-reverting from overbought readings
SNOW Price Action: Snowflake shares were up 5.59% at $252.57 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.