Ed Lin

Alphabet recently exited an investment in cloud-data firm Snowflake.

Alphabet, which held the stake through its Google LLC unit, sold its remaining 114,554 Snowflake shares in the fourth quarter.

Google LLC first disclosed a stake of 535,604 Snowflake shares for the first quarter of 2022. Google LLC held the stake steady until the third quarter of 2024 when it sold 421,050 Snowflake shares to cut its holdings to 114,554 shares.

Alphabet didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the stock sale. It wasn't clear if Alphabet had received the Snowflake stock as part of compensation, or through an open-market stock purchase. Google and Snowflake have an existing partnership.

Last year wasn't a great one for Snowflake stock. The company provided a disappointing outlook in February 2024, and announced the retirement of CEO Frank Slootman, who remains chairman. Snowflake stock slid 22% in 2024, and that included a 34% surge in the fourth quarter, when the company reported strong earnings. At the end of the third quarter, Snowflake stock's 2024 year-to-date loss stood at 42%.

But Snowflake shares are now sporting a 2025 year-to-date gain of more than 20%, and we think the stock could benefit from an artificial-intelligence shift to software from hardware.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members -- so-called insiders -- as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.

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February 07, 2025 12:05 ET (17:05 GMT)

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