Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) has sold its entire stake in cloud-data firm Snowflake (SNOW).
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Alphabet, which held the stake through its Google LLC unit, sold its remaining 114,554 Snowflake shares in the fourth quarter of last year. That stake would be worth $21.17 million based on the current price of SNOW stock.
The sale ends a multi-year investment that Alphabet held in Snowflake. The online search giant first disclosed a stake of 535,604 SNOW shares in the first quarter of 2022. Google LLC held that stake steady until the third quarter of 2024 when it sold 421,050 shares of Snowflake to cut its holdings to 114,554 shares. It has now completely exited the position.
Struggling Stock
Alphabet hasn’t discussed its investment in Snowflake publicly or commented on why it sold its stake in the cloud company. Google and Snowflake have an existing partnership which looks to be ongoing. However, Alphabet may have sold its SNOW stock due to poor performance. Since going public in a highly-anticipated IPO back in 2020, Snowflake’s share price has declined 23%.
Snowflake has struggled with poor financial results and underwhelming guidance. The company’s CEO Frank Slootman announced his retirement last year. A much discussed boost from an artificial-intelligence (AI) shift to software from hardware has yet to materialize at the company.
Alphabet wasn’t the only high-profile investor in Snowflake. Warren Buffett took the unusual step of buying into the company’s IPO, though he too has since sold his holdings of SNOW stock. Alphabet’s stock has risen 28% in the last 12 months.
Is GOOGL Stock a Buy?
The stock of Alphabet has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 36 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 26 Buy and 10 Hold recommendations assigned in the last three months. The average GOOGL price target of $215.73 implies 16.31% upside from current levels.
