The cloud-based data-warehousing company Snowflake IPO will trade next week under the ticker SNOW. The IPO includes commitments from Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) and Salesforce Ventures part of Salesforce(CRM) .
Berkshire will buy $570 million worth of shares in Snowflake. Participating in an initial public offering is an unusual step for Buffett since the normal investment strategy is buying proven stocks with long-term value for the long run.
For the six-month period ended July 3, Snowflake reported revenue of $148.9 million, up 189% from the year-ago period. It showed a net loss of $171.3 million, vs. a loss of $177.2 million. The company reports having 3,117 customers. Snowflake has a current valuation of around $12.4 billion, based on ~$1.4 billion in venture capital funding.
The company plans to raise $2.2 billion by offering 28 million shares at a price range of $75 to $85 via this IPO.
