Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) finished the holiday-shortened U.S. trading session on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, lower as investors weighed a fresh round of deal chatter and newly filed insider transactions. The broader market still managed to close at record levels, but thin Christmas Eve liquidity likely amplified moves across individual names. [1]
One key calendar note upfront: U.S. stock markets are closed Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025 (Christmas Day). The next regular session is Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. In other words, there is no U.S. market open “tomorrow”—the next open to prepare for is Friday. [2]
Below is what happened to SNOW after the bell today—and what investors will be watching before trading resumes.
Snowflake stock price today: a down close in a shortened session, then a quiet after-hours tape
Snowflake shares ended the Christmas Eve session at $221.93, down $3.17 (-1.41%). The stock traded between $219.54 (low) and $224.58 (high) and opened at $223.91. Volume came in at about 1.67 million shares, notably light even by SNOW’s standards—consistent with a holiday-shortened day. [3]
Because Dec. 24 was an early close, the “closing bell” arrived earlier than usual. The NYSE holiday calendar shows markets closed early at 1:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 24, with late trading sessions closing at 5:00 p.m. ET. [4]
In after-hours, price action was muted overall. StockAnalysis showed SNOW at $221.93 at 5:00 p.m. ET, effectively flat from the close, while Yahoo Finance indicated shares were modestly lower earlier in the afternoon after the early close. [5]
Why SNOW moved: reports Snowflake is in talks to buy Observe for about $1 billion
The most market-moving headline tied to Snowflake today was a report that the company is in discussions to acquire app monitoring/observability startup Observe Inc. for roughly $1 billion—which would represent Snowflake’s largest acquisition to date if completed. The report was attributed to The Information and was widely echoed by other outlets. [6]
What Observe does (and why Snowflake would care)
Observe operates in observability—tools used by engineering and IT teams to monitor systems and applications for performance issues (latency, outages, error spikes), investigate incidents, and debug problems. [7]
Strategically, the link to Snowflake is unusually tight:
- Observe runs on Snowflake—it uses Snowflake’s database technology and is described as being built atop Snowflake for storing telemetry data. [8]
- Snowflake Ventures invested in Observe in 2024, and Snowflake publicly positioned Observe as a partner to improve how customers monitor and manage Snowflake environments. [9]
- Multiple reports also highlighted governance ties (Observe CEO Jeremy Burton serving as a Snowflake director, and overlapping board relationships). [10]
That combination (product + data + ownership ties) is why some analysts and industry watchers see this as an “up-the-stack” move: Snowflake isn’t just storing data, it’s expanding into adjacent operational tooling that sits closer to the application layer—especially relevant as enterprises deploy more AI-powered apps.
Competitive angle: Datadog, Dynatrace, and Splunk
If Snowflake pushes deeper into observability, it steps into a market dominated by specialist platforms such as Datadog and Dynatrace, plus enterprise incumbents such as Cisco’s Splunk (post-acquisition). That competitive framing showed up repeatedly in today’s coverage. [11]
The price tag vs. Observe’s funding history
Investing.com reported Observe has raised over $470 million and was valued around $848 million in its most recent funding round (citing PitchBook). A ~$1 billion deal would imply a premium, but not an extreme one by software M&A standards—especially for strategic assets positioned around reliability and AI-era application monitoring. [12]
Today’s analyst view: “digestible” deal math, but valuation questions remain
While Snowflake itself has not confirmed any transaction, the rumor was enough to trigger same-day analyst commentary.
Baird sticks with Outperform, $270 target
Baird maintained an Outperform rating and $270 price target on Snowflake in a note reacting to the Observe chatter. The firm argued the rumored deal would be “fairly digestible” given Snowflake’s financial position—citing $4.4 billion in cash and $2.1 billion in net cash at the end of the fiscal third quarter, plus free cash flow generation. [13]
Baird also pointed to a core integration point: Observe is described as “natively built on Snowflake,” which could reduce integration friction compared with many software mergers. [14]
Street-wide consensus: still bullish overall
MarketBeat’s compilation of analyst ratings shows a “Moderate Buy” consensus (based on 43 analysts) with an average 12‑month price target of $275.32 (about 24% upside from the cited reference price). [15]
Why this matters for Friday’s session: If more deal details emerge (or Snowflake comments), Friday’s price action may reflect a tug-of-war between (1) strategic enthusiasm about expanding capabilities and (2) concerns about paying up for growth while SNOW already trades at a premium multiple versus many legacy software peers.
Insider sales: what the filings show, and why they’re being discussed today
Another theme circulating around SNOW into the holiday week is insider selling, which some market headlines linked to short-term pressure. It’s important to separate “signal” from “structure,” because many sales are conducted under pre-arranged trading plans.
Frank Slootman (director, former CEO): 200,000-share sale tied to options exercise
A Form 4 filing shows director Frank Slootman exercised stock options for 200,000 shares (exercise price $8.88) and then sold 200,000 shares the same day in multiple batches at weighted prices roughly between $217.43 and $223.214. The filing indicates the sales were made under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan adopted Sept. 19, 2025. [16]
Emily Ho (Chief Accounting Officer): small sale
A separate Form 4 shows CAO Emily Ho sold 586 shares at $222.908 on Dec. 18, 2025. [17]
Christian Kleinerman (EVP): sale under a 10b5‑1 plan
A Form 4 for EVP Christian Kleinerman shows a sale of 4,755 shares at $224.30 on Dec. 23, 2025, with the filing noting transactions made under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan adopted Dec. 19, 2024. [18]
How to read this before Friday:
Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, especially after a strong run, but 10b5‑1 plan sales are scheduled in advance and often reflect diversification or tax planning rather than a fresh view on fundamentals. The key question for the next session is whether the market treats these filings as “noise” or uses them as justification to take profits in thin liquidity.
Bigger picture backdrop: a record-setting market day, but holiday-thin liquidity
Snowflake’s dip came on a day when the S&P 500 and Dow closed at record highs. Coverage emphasized that volume was relatively light heading into Christmas, with investors still leaning into the seasonal “Santa rally” narrative and watching interest-rate expectations. [19]
For individual stocks like SNOW, that matters because:
- Fewer participants can mean wider spreads and sharper moves on headlines.
- Deal rumors can be over-weighted in price discovery when the tape is thin.
- Friday (Dec. 26) may still see post-holiday liquidity effects, especially early in the session.
What Snowflake investors should watch before the next open (Friday, Dec. 26, 2025)
Here are the most important catalysts and “know-before-you-trade” items heading into the next U.S. session:
1) Any confirmation, denial, or new details on the Observe talks
Right now, the Observe story is report-driven. If Snowflake confirms, denies, or clarifies, the market will quickly shift from rumor-pricing to deal-math pricing (purchase price, dilution, integration timeline, strategic rationale). [20]
2) If a deal materializes, watch for “platform expansion” messaging
Today’s commentary repeatedly framed Observe as a way for Snowflake to expand into observability and compete more directly with Datadog/Dynatrace/Splunk. Expect investors to evaluate whether this is:
- a product pull-through strategy (sell more Snowflake by offering operational tooling), or
- a strategic pivot (Snowflake moving further into application-layer software). [21]
3) Additional insider filings (especially clustered sales)
The market has already been sensitive to insider-sale headlines. Any additional Form 4s (or clarifying disclosures) could become a short-term trading input, regardless of whether they’re plan-based. [22]
4) Remember the calendar: closed Christmas Day, early close already happened
- Thursday, Dec. 25: U.S. markets closed.
- Wednesday, Dec. 24: markets closed early at 1:00 p.m. ET, and late trading sessions ended at 5:00 p.m. ET per NYSE.
- Friday, Dec. 26: next regular session. [23]
This matters because headline risk doesn’t stop, but liquidity does—so price discovery can “gap” when normal participation returns.
5) Re-centering on fundamentals after the headline cycle
Today’s move was headline-driven, but investors are still anchored to Snowflake’s core questions: consumption growth, AI workload traction, and execution against product revenue expectations. Earlier this month, Reuters reported Snowflake forecast 27% fourth-quarter product revenue growth, noting that discounts on large, long-term deals were one factor discussed around the outlook. [24]
Bottom line for SNOW after hours today
Snowflake stock closed down modestly in holiday-thin trading, then stayed largely steady after hours. The dominant narrative for the next session is whether the market treats the Observe acquisition talks as a strategic positive (expanding “up the stack” into observability) or as a new source of execution and valuation risk—especially as insider-sale headlines continue to circulate. [25]
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
References
1. www.nyse.com, 2. www.nyse.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. www.nyse.com, 5. stockanalysis.com, 6. www.investing.com, 7. siliconangle.com, 8. siliconangle.com, 9. www.snowflake.com, 10. www.investing.com, 11. www.investing.com, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.marketbeat.com, 16. www.sec.gov, 17. www.sec.gov, 18. www.sec.gov, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.investing.com, 21. www.investing.com, 22. www.sec.gov, 23. www.nyse.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. stockanalysis.com
