Aslan Research · AI software
Snowflake Inc. (SNOW)
Data as of 2026-09-03 · 26 quarters · filed in USD
Snowflake’s revenue grew 50% per year, faster than its 41% annual expense growth. Its $9.2 billion backlog equals 1.8x one year of revenue, giving the future-work pipeline meaningful scale against the $5.0 billion trailing-year revenue base.
Earned, collected early, and merely signed
Reports — of debt; has promised $630M
Total committed money is led by $490 million for leases, with another $70 million for purchases. These obligations add to reported debt by capturing leases signed but not yet commenced and other future spending.
What the promised total is made of, latest quarter
Spending, by reported line
When the promises come due
The $9.2 billion backlog is 1.8x one year of revenue, while $10.5 billion is due over the next 5 years. The contrast shows substantial contracted demand alongside a large near-term obligation wall.
The rates that matter
Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation
11 patterns worth a second look
The sharpest disclosure issue is the reported relationship with Observe: Snowflake had customer contracts, revenue, vendor spending, and strategic investments with the same party, followed by an acquisition shortly after period end. Other flags include material commitments for leases signed but not yet commenced, a change in cloud infrastructure commitment definitions, and 17 of 26 quarters changed by reconciliation.
circular financing · 1
The FY2026 filing reports strategic investments in Observe, which is also reported as a customer and vendor.
off balance sheet · 1
The filings repeatedly report material commitments for leases signed but not yet commenced.
one time dressing · 1
The FY2022 filing presents expected non-cash gains from investee funding events as a subsequent-period benefit to results.
redefinition · 1
The cloud infrastructure commitment changes from an aggregate minimum through December 2025 to amended multi-year commitments with different periods and amounts.
regulator challenge · 3
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2020-08-31, answering a staff comment letter dated 2020-07-10; it quotes 0 staff comments.
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2020-09-11, answering a staff comment letter dated 2020-07-10; it quotes 0 staff comments.
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2020-09-11, answering a staff comment letter dated 2020-07-10; it quotes 0 staff comments.
related party exposure · 1
The FY2026 filing reports related-party customer contracts, revenue, vendor spending, and strategic investments with Observe.
subsequent event · 1
The FY2026 filing reports the acquisition of Observe shortly after period end, recontextualizing prior related-party investments.
value revision · 1
The cataloged fair-value revision candidates show substantive changes in reported unrealized gains and losses.
vanishing item · 1
The FY2021 filing reports 186 Fortune 500 customers contributing 27% of revenue, while later filings use different customer-group disclosures and do not repeat this claim.