Comprehensive Stock Comparison
Compare Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) vs Elastic N.V. (ESTC) Stock
Analyze side-by-side fundamentals, valuation, growth, and profitability to decide which stock is the better buy.
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Quick Verdict
| Category | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | SNOW | 29.2% revenue growth vs ESTC's 17.0% |
| Value | ESTC | Lower P/E (21.0x vs 95.0x) |
| Quality / Margins | ESTC | -5.0% net margin vs SNOW's -28.4% |
| Stability / Safety | ESTC | Beta 1.39 vs SNOW's 1.49, lower leverage |
| Dividends | Tie | Neither pays a meaningful dividend |
| Momentum (1Y) | SNOW | -4.9% vs ESTC's -55.3% |
| Efficiency (ROA) | ESTC | -3.5% ROA vs SNOW's -14.6%, ROIC -5.2% vs -43.1% |
Who Each Stock Is For
Income & stability
Growth exposure
Long-term compounding (10Y)
Sleep-well-at-night portfolio
Defensive / Recession hedge
Business Model
What each company does and how it makes money
Snowflake provides a cloud-native data platform that enables organizations to store, process, and analyze data across multiple cloud providers. It generates revenue primarily through consumption-based pricing for compute, storage, and data transfer services — with compute typically representing the largest portion. Its key advantage is a unique architecture that separates storage and compute, allowing customers to scale each independently while avoiding vendor lock-in through multi-cloud compatibility.
Elastic is a search and data analytics software company that provides the Elastic Stack platform for real-time search, observability, and security use cases. It generates revenue primarily through subscription-based software sales — about 90% from cloud and self-managed offerings — with the remainder from professional services. Its competitive advantage lies in its widely adopted open-source core (Elasticsearch) that creates a large developer ecosystem and network effects.
Revenue Breakdown by Segment
How each company's revenue is distributed across its business units
Financial Metrics Comparison
Side-by-side fundamentals across 2 stocks. BestLagging
Financial Scorecard
ESTC leads in 3 of 6 categories (Financial Metrics, Valuation Metrics). SNOW leads in 1 (Total Returns). 1 tied.
Financial Metrics (TTM)
SNOW is the larger business by revenue, generating $4.7B annually — 2.8x ESTC's $1.7B. ESTC is the more profitable business, keeping -5.0% of every revenue dollar as net income compared to SNOW's -28.4%. On growth, SNOW holds the edge at +30.1% YoY revenue growth, suggesting stronger near-term business momentum.
| Metric | SNOWSnowflake Inc. | ESTCElastic N.V. |
|---|---|---|
| RevenueTrailing 12 months | $4.7B | $1.7B |
| EBITDAEarnings before interest/tax | -$1.3B | -$27M |
| Net IncomeAfter-tax profit | -$1.3B | -$85M |
| Free Cash FlowCash after capex | $1.1B | $257M |
| Gross MarginGross profit ÷ Revenue | +67.2% | +76.0% |
| Operating MarginEBIT ÷ Revenue | -30.6% | -1.7% |
| Net MarginNet income ÷ Revenue | -28.4% | -5.0% |
| FCF MarginFCF ÷ Revenue | +23.9% | +15.3% |
| Rev. Growth (YoY)Latest quarter vs prior year | +30.1% | +17.7% |
| EPS Growth (YoY)Latest quarter vs prior year | +9.1% | +143.8% |
Valuation Metrics
| Metric | SNOWSnowflake Inc. | ESTCElastic N.V. |
|---|---|---|
| Market CapShares × price | $57.7B | $5.5B |
| Enterprise ValueMkt cap + debt − cash | $57.6B | $5.4B |
| Trailing P/EPrice ÷ TTM EPS | -42.64x | -50.07x |
| Forward P/EPrice ÷ next-FY EPS est. | 95.01x | 20.96x |
| PEG RatioP/E ÷ EPS growth rate | — | — |
| EV / EBITDAEnterprise value multiple | — | — |
| Price / SalesMarket cap ÷ Revenue | 12.31x | 3.70x |
| Price / BookPrice ÷ Book value/share | 28.15x | 5.82x |
| Price / FCFMarket cap ÷ FCF | 51.48x | 20.99x |
Profitability & Efficiency
ESTC delivers a -10.7% return on equity — every $100 of shareholder capital generates $-11 in annual profit, vs $-66 for SNOW. ESTC carries lower financial leverage with a 0.64x debt-to-equity ratio, signaling a more conservative balance sheet compared to SNOW's 1.36x. On the Piotroski fundamental quality scale (0–9), ESTC scores 7/9 vs SNOW's 5/9, reflecting strong financial health.
| Metric | SNOWSnowflake Inc. | ESTCElastic N.V. |
|---|---|---|
| ROE (TTM)Return on equity | -65.9% | -10.7% |
| ROA (TTM)Return on assets | -14.6% | -3.5% |
| ROICReturn on invested capital | -43.1% | -5.2% |
| ROCEReturn on capital employed | -27.5% | -3.7% |
| Piotroski ScoreFundamental quality 0–9 | 5 | 7 |
| Debt / EquityFinancial leverage | 1.36x | 0.64x |
| Net DebtTotal debt minus cash | -$87M | -$133M |
| Cash & Equiv.Liquid assets | $2.8B | $728M |
| Total DebtShort + long-term debt | $2.7B | $595M |
| Interest CoverageEBIT ÷ Interest expense | -115.44x | -2.17x |
Total Returns (with DRIP)
A $10,000 investment in SNOW five years ago would be worth $6,188 today (with dividends reinvested), compared to $3,595 for ESTC. Over the past 12 months, SNOW leads with a -4.9% total return vs ESTC's -55.3%. The 3-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) favors SNOW at 2.9% vs ESTC's -4.1% — a key indicator of consistent wealth creation.
| Metric | SNOWSnowflake Inc. | ESTCElastic N.V. |
|---|---|---|
| YTD ReturnYear-to-date | -22.3% | -28.2% |
| 1-Year ReturnPast 12 months | -4.9% | -55.3% |
| 3-Year ReturnCumulative with dividends | +9.1% | -11.8% |
| 5-Year ReturnCumulative with dividends | -38.1% | -64.1% |
| 10-Year ReturnCumulative with dividends | -33.7% | -25.6% |
| CAGR (3Y)Annualised 3-year return | +2.9% | -4.1% |
Risk & Volatility
ESTC is the less volatile stock with a 1.39 beta — it tends to amplify market swings less than SNOW's 1.49 beta. A beta below 1.0 means the stock typically moves less than the S&P 500. SNOW currently trades 60.0% from its 52-week high vs ESTC's 44.3% drawdown — a narrower gap to the peak suggests stronger recent price momentum.
| Metric | SNOWSnowflake Inc. | ESTCElastic N.V. |
|---|---|---|
| Beta (5Y)Sensitivity to S&P 500 | 1.49x | 1.39x |
| 52-Week HighHighest price in past year | $280.67 | $117.49 |
| 52-Week LowLowest price in past year | $120.10 | $49.90 |
| % of 52W HighCurrent price vs 52-week peak | +60.0% | +44.3% |
| RSI (14)Momentum oscillator 0–100 | 43.8 | 47.0 |
| Avg Volume (50D)Average daily shares traded | 4.4M | 1.3M |
Analyst Outlook
Wall Street rates SNOW as "Buy" and ESTC as "Buy". Consensus price targets imply 99.7% upside for ESTC (target: $104) vs 49.4% for SNOW (target: $252).
| Metric | SNOWSnowflake Inc. | ESTCElastic N.V. |
|---|---|---|
| Analyst RatingConsensus buy/hold/sell | Buy | Buy |
| Price TargetConsensus 12-month target | $251.60 | $104.00 |
| # AnalystsCovering analysts | 49 | 34 |
| Dividend YieldAnnual dividend ÷ price | — | — |
| Dividend StreakConsecutive years of raises | — | — |
| Dividend / ShareAnnual DPS | — | — |
| Buyback YieldShare repurchases ÷ mkt cap | +0.2% | 0.0% |
Historical Charts
Charts are rendered on first load. Hover for details.
Chart 1Total Return — 5 Years (Rebased to 100)
| Stock | Sep 20 | Feb 26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) | 100 | 75.09 | -24.9% |
| Elastic N.V. (ESTC) | 100 | 58.55 | -41.4% |
Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) returned -38% over 5 years vs Elastic N.V. (ESTC)'s -64%.
Chart 2Revenue Growth — 10 Years
| Stock | 2017 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) | $97M | $4.7B | +4745.5% |
| Elastic N.V. (ESTC) | $88M | $1.5B | +1582.2% |
Chart 3Net Margin Trend — 10 Years
| Stock | 2017 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) | -184.2% | -28.4% | +84.6% |
| Elastic N.V. (ESTC) | -58.9% | -7.3% | +87.6% |
Chart 4EPS Growth — 10 Years
| Stock | 2017 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) | -0.75 | -3.95 | -426.7% |
| Elastic N.V. (ESTC) | -0.84 | -1.04 | -23.8% |
Chart 5Free Cash Flow — 5 Years
Snowflake Inc. generated $1B FCF in 2026 (+1407% vs 2021). Elastic N.V. generated $262M FCF in 2025 (+1329% vs 2021).
SNOW vs ESTC: Frequently Asked Questions
8 questions · data-driven answers · updated daily
01Is SNOW or ESTC a better buy right now?
Analysts rate Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) a "Buy" — based on 49 analyst ratings — the highest consensus in this comparison. The "better buy" depends entirely on your goals: growth investors should weight revenue trajectory, value investors should weight P/E and PEG, and income investors should weight dividend yield and streak.
02Which is the better long-term investment — SNOW or ESTC?
Over the past 5 years, Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) delivered a total return of -38.1%, compared to -64.1% for Elastic N.V. (ESTC). A $10,000 investment in SNOW five years ago would be worth approximately $6K today (assuming dividends reinvested). Over 10 years, the gap is even starker: ESTC returned -25.6% versus SNOW's -33.7%. Past returns do not guarantee future results, and the stock with the higher historical return may already have its best growth priced in.
03Which is safer — SNOW or ESTC?
By beta (market sensitivity over 5 years), Elastic N.V. (ESTC) is the lower-risk stock at 1.39β versus Snowflake Inc.'s 1.49β — meaning SNOW is approximately 7% more volatile than ESTC relative to the S&P 500. On balance sheet safety, Elastic N.V. (ESTC) carries a lower debt/equity ratio of 64% versus 136% for Snowflake Inc. — giving it more financial flexibility in a downturn.
04Which has better profit margins — SNOW or ESTC?
Elastic N.V. (ESTC) is the more profitable company, earning -7.3% net margin versus -28.4% for Snowflake Inc. — meaning it keeps -7.3% of every revenue dollar as bottom-line profit. Operating margin tells a similar story: ESTC leads at -3.7% versus -30.6% for SNOW. At the gross margin level — before operating expenses — ESTC leads at 74.4%, reflecting greater pricing power or product mix advantage. Stronger margins indicate durable pricing power, lower cost of revenue, or higher mix of software/services. They are one of the clearest signs of business quality.
05Is SNOW or ESTC more undervalued right now?
On forward earnings alone, Elastic N.V. (ESTC) trades at 21.0x forward P/E versus 95.0x for Snowflake Inc. — 74.1x cheaper on a one-year earnings basis. Analyst consensus price targets imply the most upside for ESTC: 99.7% to $104.00.
06Which pays a better dividend — SNOW or ESTC?
None of the stocks in this comparison currently pay a material dividend. All are effectively zero-yield and should be held for capital appreciation rather than income.
07Is SNOW or ESTC better for a retirement portfolio?
For long-horizon retirement investors, Elastic N.V. (ESTC) is the stronger choice — it scores higher on the combination of lower volatility, dividend reliability, and long-term compounding. Both have compounded well over 10 years (ESTC: -25.6%, SNOW: -33.7%), confirming both are viable long-term holds — but the lower-volatility option typically results in less emotional selling during corrections. Retirement portfolios generally favour predictability over maximum returns. Consult a financial advisor before making allocation decisions.
08What are the main differences between SNOW and ESTC?
Both stocks operate in the Technology sector, making this a peer-level intra-sector comparison — the same macro tailwinds and headwinds will affect both. These fundamental differences mean investors should not choose between them on a single metric — the "better stock" depends entirely on which of these characteristics aligns with your investment strategy.
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