It was more a blizzard than a flurry on Wall Street Wednesday, as Snowflake, the data cloud upstart, experienced the most extensive initial public offering of any software company in history.
During its first minutes of trading, Snowflake soared over 130%, and while its IPO was worth $120, the stock opened at $245 on Wednesday. The company sold about 28 million shares, garnering some $3.36 billion.
In the Cloud
The cloud industry has been on the rise all year, particularly as businesses adapt to a remote work model. Even some of the world’s most esteemed investors have taken note. Snowflake’s premiere got a boost last week when it was revealed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would invest $250 million at the IPO price. Furthermore, Berkshire purchased 4 million shares of Snowflake that belonged to the company’s former CEO, Bob Muglia.
In the same filing, Salesforce Ventures, the venture capitalist branch of Salesforce, agreed to buy $250 million in shares of Snowflake in a private placement following its public launch.
And it’s no wonder why Snowflake is gaining traction this year. As companies continue to keep workers home, reliable collaboration software has become an invaluable component in business. Cloud-based software allows co-workers to easily share and access digital data through their personal computers. And as it looks likelier that remote work is here to stay, the market says that services like Snowflake will only become more imperative.
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