Snowflake vs Alphabet: Which Cloud Data Stock Has an Edge Now?

Snowflake SNOW and Alphabet GOOGL are major players in the cloud data and analytics space. While Snowflake provides a pure-play cloud data warehousing and analytics platform, Alphabet offers similar capabilities through Google Cloud’s BigQuery as part of its broader cloud ecosystem.

Per the Grand View Research report, the global cloud analytics market size was valued at $35.39 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $130.63 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 25.5% from 2025 to 2030. Both Snowflake and Alphabet are poised to benefit from this rapid growth pace.

Snowflake or Alphabet — Which of these Cloud Data stocks has the greater upside potential? Let’s find out.

The Case for SNOW Stock

SNOW is benefiting from strong adoption and increasing usage of its platform, as reflected by the net revenue retention rate of 125% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026. The company reported 20% year-over-year growth in the number of customers, reaching 12,621 in the fiscal third quarter of 2026. The company now has 688 customers with trailing 12-month product revenues greater than $1 million (up 29% year over year) and 766 Forbes Global 2000 customers.

Snowflake’s focus on AI has been a key catalyst, with AI influencing 50% of bookings signed during the fiscal third quarter. The company achieved a $100 million AI revenue run rate one quarter earlier than expected, reflecting strong enterprise adoption of its AI capabilities.

SNOW is also benefiting from its expanding portfolio, which is driving robust growth and solidifying its position as a leader in the enterprise AI and data cloud space. The company introduced 370 new GA product capabilities year to date, marking a 35% increase over the previous year.

Snowflake’s investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, including the introduction of Cortex AI and its integration with models from OpenAI and Anthropic, drove customer engagement. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, the company announced that more than 7,300 customers are using Snowflake’s AI and ML technology weekly.

The Case for GOOGL Stock

Alphabet is growing its presence in the cloud analytics market with its cloud computing platform, Google Cloud’s BigQuery, a powerful serverless data warehouse solution. BigQuery is strongly integrated into the broader Google Cloud ecosystem, allowing enterprises to leverage Google’s infrastructure, data, and AI services seamlessly.

The company has been growing rapidly in the booming cloud-computing market.  In third-quarter 2025, Google Cloud revenues increased 33.5% year over year to $15.16 billion. Google’s growing investments in infrastructure, security, data management, analytics, and AI are positive.

Google Cloud ended the third quarter of 2025 with $155 billion in backlog, up 46% sequentially. The number of new Google Cloud Platform customers increased by roughly 34% year over year, and 70% of Google Cloud customers now use Alphabet’s AI products. Google Cloud is also seeing strong demand for its core Google Cloud Platform infrastructure, which includes services like data analytics and cybersecurity. 

The increasing number of cloud regions and availability zones globally remains a major positive. Google Cloud has 42 cloud regions, 127 zones, and 200 network edge locations across more than 200 countries. Google Cloud is considered the third-largest cloud player among numerous cloud providers worldwide.

Price Performance and Valuation of SNOW and GOOGL

In the trailing six-month period, SNOW shares have gained 4.2%, underperforming Alphabet shares, which have surged 75%. GOOGL’s outperformance can be attributed to its continuing AI push across its search and cloud computing platforms.

Despite SNOW’s expanding portfolio and rich partner base, the company is suffering from challenging macroeconomic uncertainties and stiff competition from hyperscale cloud providers.

SNOW and GOOGL Performance

Both SNOW and Alphabet shares are currently overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of F and D, respectively.

In terms of forward 12-month Price/Sales, SNOW shares are trading at 13.36X, higher than GOOGL’s 9.68X.

SNOW and GOOGL Valuation

How Do Earnings Estimates Compare for SNOW & GOOGL?

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNOW’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.20 per share, which has increased 2.5% over the past 30 days. This indicates a 44.58% increase year over year.

Snowflake Inc. Price and Consensus

Snowflake Inc. price-consensus-chart | Snowflake Inc. Quote

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alphabet’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $10.52 per share, which has increased 0.28% over the past 30 days. This indicates a 30.85% increase year over year.

Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus

Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote

Conclusion

While both SNOW and GOOGL are well-positioned to benefit from the booming cloud analytics market, Alphabet’s Google Cloud provides a broader ecosystem, stronger global infrastructure, and consistent earnings growth. For investors seeking stability with upside, GOOGL is the better choice.

Despite SNOW’s robust portfolio, stiff competition from hyperscale cloud providers remains a headwind. Elevated infrastructure spending, particularly on GPUs to support AI-driven initiatives, is adding to cost pressures.

Snowflake and Alphabet carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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