New use cases for Snowflake ‘s cloud-native data platform could give the stock a big boost, according to Needham. Analyst Mike Cikos initiated coverage of the cloud stock with a buy rating, calling attention to expansion opportunities for Snowflake’s cloud platform ahead. Cikos also slapped a $240 price target on the stock, implying upside of about 22% from Thursday’s close. “In our view, the opportunity is large enough to support multiple winners,” Cikos said in a note Friday. “Snowflake’s ease of use and ability to support multiple use-cases draws mass appeal with solid product/market-fit. If the first innovation of Cloud was migrating previous applications, we see Snowflake as driving the second-order derivative: unlocking demand by utilizing Cloud in previously impossible ways.” While companies are currently using these platforms to migrate applications, Cikos sees a slew of opportunities ahead for the cloud. For Snowflake, that includes further expansion into the unstructured data market which should put it on pace to compete with Databricks further down the road. Snowflake’s ease of use is another advantage that’s enabled the company to lure customers from costly solutions like Oracle, he added. “We believe data is the most critical asset to organizations today, and Snowflake’s platform allows its customers to unlock value by facilitating data-driven decisions and generating new revenue streams,” Cikos wrote, calling data the “new oil.” Shares of Snowflake have cratered 42% this year and sit more than 51% off their 52-week highs. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting
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