Summary
Snowflake reported fourth quarter revenue of $383.8 million, up 101.5% from $190.46 million in the prior-year quarter. Product revenue, the consumption-based line that drives the model, was $359.6 million and grew 102%. Total gross profit was $249.6 million, up 132.0% from $107.56 million, and gross margin reached 65.0%, up from 56.5%. The company finished the year with remaining performance obligations of $2.60 billion, up 100.0% from $1.30 billion.
The loss picture improved in the quarter but not for the year. The fourth quarter GAAP operating loss narrowed to $152.0 million from $200.4 million, and operating margin moved from negative 105.2% to negative 39.6%. Net loss narrowed to $132.2 million from $198.9 million. Full-year numbers move the other way. Fiscal 2022 revenue was $1.22 billion, up 106.0% from $592.05 million, yet the operating loss widened to $715.0 million from $543.9 million and the net loss widened to $679.9 million from $539.1 million. Diluted loss per share for the year was $2.26, an improvement from the $3.81 loss reported a year earlier. Full-year gross profit was $760.9 million, with a gross margin of 62.4%, up from 59.0%.
Cash flow was the strongest part of the release. Operating cash flow was $78.9 million in the quarter, up 302.3% from $19.6 million, and $110.2 million for the full year compared with a use of $45.4 million in fiscal 2021. Capital expenditures fell to $4.0 million in the quarter from $11.0 million. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, was $70.7 million in the quarter at an 18% margin, and adjusted free cash flow was $102.1 million at a 27% margin. For the full year, free cash flow was $81.2 million and adjusted free cash flow was $149.8 million. Deferred revenue, current portion only, rose 81.3% to $1.16 billion from $638.65 million.
Customer metrics kept moving. Snowflake counted 5,944 total customers as of January 31, 2022, up from 4,139 a year earlier, and 184 customers with trailing 12-month product revenue above $1 million, up from 77. Net revenue retention rate was 178%, up from 168%. Management said about 52% of RPO should be recognized as revenue in the twelve months ending January 31, 2023, and put the weighted-average remaining life of capacity contracts at 2.1 years.
Guidance points to slower, though still steep, growth. For the first quarter of fiscal 2023, Snowflake guided product revenue of $383 to $388 million, growth of 79% to 81%, and a GAAP operating loss margin of 2%. For the full fiscal year 2023, the company guided product revenue of $1,880 to $1,900 million, growth of 65% to 67%, alongside a non-GAAP product gross profit margin of 74.5%, a non-GAAP operating income margin of 1%, and an adjusted free cash flow margin of 15%. Weighted-average diluted shares are guided at 359 million for the first quarter and 360 million for the year.
The risks sit in the consumption model. Revenue depends on how much customers choose to use, and contracts generally let customers roll unused capacity into later periods, so consumption can run below plan. Efficiency gains such as better storage compression and faster cloud processors could cut the resources needed for the same workloads. The filing also flags COVID-19 and the armed conflict in Ukraine as factors that could affect results. Stock-based compensation remains a heavy cost, at $605.1 million for fiscal 2022, with $1.4 billion of unrecognized expense to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 3.0 years. In March 2022 the company agreed to acquire Streamlit for approximately $800 million.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2022 | Q3 FY2022 | QoQ | Q4 FY2021 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $383.8M | $334.4M | +14.8% | $190.5M | +101.5% |
| Gross profit | $249.6M | $213.7M | +16.8% | $107.6M | +132.0% |
| Gross margin | 65.0% | 63.9% | +1.2 pp | 56.5% | +8.6 pp |
| Research & development | $123.1M | $115.9M | +6.3% | $94.0M | +31.0% |
| Sales & marketing | $203.3M | $191.0M | +6.4% | $154.1M | +32.0% |
| General & administrative | $75.2M | $64.1M | +17.4% | $59.9M | +25.5% |
| Total operating expenses | $401.6M | $370.9M | +8.3% | $308.0M | +30.4% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$152.0M | -$157.3M | +3.3% | -$200.4M | +24.1% |
| Operating margin | -39.6% | -47.0% | +7.4 pp | -105.2% | +65.6 pp |
| Net income (loss) | -$132.2M | -$154.9M | +14.7% | -$198.9M | +33.6% |
| Net margin | -34.4% | -46.3% | +11.9 pp | -104.5% | +70.0 pp |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.44 | -$0.51 | +$0.07 | — | — |
Risks
Snowflake recognizes revenue on consumption rather than ratably, giving limited visibility into the timing of revenue recognition. MD&A notes customers have flexibility in consumption and may consume the platform more slowly than expected, which can cause revenue and results of operations to fluctuate.
AWS, Azure, and GCP are both key infrastructure providers and primary competitors, and a substantial majority of Snowflake's business runs on AWS. These providers could embed competing capabilities, offer unfavorable pricing, or treat Snowflake differently, pressuring revenue and gross margins.
Snowflake has a history of net losses, and net loss widened to $679.9 million for FY2022 from $539.1 million in FY2021. Operating loss also widened year to date FY2022 to $715.0 million from $543.9 million in FY2021 year to date, and costs are expected to increase as the company invests in growth.
Sales to large enterprise and government customers involve longer sales cycles, complex requirements, upfront costs, and less predictability. MD&A also notes COVID-19 caused a lengthening of the sales cycle for some prospective customers and delays in professional services, while revenue from new customers under capacity arrangements represented approximately 4% of FY2022 revenue compared with 7% in FY2021.
Competition for cloud data platform engineers, sales professionals, and support personnel is intense, and the 2021 'great resignation' intensified hiring and retention pressures. The filing also highlights dependence on CEO Frank Slootman, CFO Michael P. Scarpelli, and other key employees, and notes that equity award declines or volatility may impair recruiting and retention.
In March 2022 Snowflake agreed to acquire Streamlit, Inc. for approximately $800 million, described as a larger and more complex acquisition than prior endeavors. Integration difficulties, management distraction, and dilution from stock consideration could adversely affect results.
Snowflake processes sensitive customer data and the filing expands on ransomware, supply-chain attacks, and remote-work cybersecurity risk, noting the company has previously been a target of threat actors. A breach could lead to litigation, regulatory enforcement, customer loss, and reputational harm.
Unfavorable global economic conditions, including inflation, could reduce business investments and cloud spending. Competitors with greater resources may lower prices in challenging markets, and MD&A lists rising inflation as a factor affecting results of operations.
Snowflake historically receives a higher volume of orders, collections, free cash flow, and sequential RPO growth in its fourth fiscal quarter. The filing expects seasonality may become more pronounced as it targets large enterprise customers, causing periodic fluctuations.
Professional services and other gross margins declined significantly for FY2022 compared with FY2021, primarily due to stock-based compensation, and sales efforts focus on customer value rather than profitability. Failure to manage growth and improve profit margin from these services could harm operating results.
Future growth increasingly depends on Data Cloud partner relationships, including global system integrators, managed service providers, and resellers. A small but increasing portion of revenue comes from these partners, and insufficient qualified partners or ineffective enablement could limit customer adoption and expansion.
Doing business with federal, state, local, and foreign governments and heavily regulated organizations creates procurement, budget, certification, audit, and termination risks. A substantial majority of government sales are indirect through partners, and bid protests or contract termination for convenience or default could delay or reduce revenue.
Customer accounts outside the United States generated 20% of revenue for FY2022, and further geographic expansion creates operational challenges including localizing the platform, longer collection cycles, differing labor laws, currency fluctuations, tax complexity, and anti-corruption compliance.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Net Revenue Retention Rate
Total Customers
Remaining Performance Obligations
Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Adjusted Free Cash Flow Margin
Free Cash Flow Margin
Adjusted Free Cash Flow
Product Revenue
Customers with Trailing 12-Month Product Revenue Greater than $1 Million
Free Cash Flow
Non-GAAP Product Gross Margin
Customers with Trailing 12-Month Product Revenue Greater than $5 Million
Non-GAAP Operating Income
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from Snowflake Inc.'s SEC filings for Q4 FY2022 (10-Q / 10-K and the 8-K earnings release); GAAP figures in the summary are checked against the reported XBRL data. They can contain errors; the filings are authoritative. Processed Oct 2, 2026.