Here’s how much Snowflake spent on research and development last quarter

Snowflakehis (SNOW -3.45%) The flagship product is Data Cloud, which helps organizations break down data silos to extract more value from the information they collect from their operations. Because data is key to developing the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) models, Snowflake is perfectly positioned to build products for that industry.

The company launched its Cortex AI platform in 2023, which allows companies to combine their data with ready-made large language models (such as Meta platforms‘ Llama 3) to create AI software applications. In addition, Cortex comes with pre-built AI tools such as Document AI, which allows developers to quickly extract valuable data from unstructured sources such as contracts and invoices.

Snowflake loses money every quarter because it invests heavily in growth initiatives like research and development, which is its biggest cost. While many tech companies have tried to manage their spending over the past couple of years, it hasn’t been so easy for Snowflake because of its focus on launching new AI products and services.

During the recent second quarter of 2025 (ended July 31), Snowflake spent a record $437.6 million on research and development, which represented a 40% year-over-year increase last:

While that growth rate is decelerating, it’s still much faster than the company’s revenue growth, which hit 30% in Q2 — and that figure has also declined over the past two years. An increase in overall operating costs led to a $316.9 million net loss for Snowflake during the quarter, which was a 40% increase from the year-ago period.

That trend is unlikely to reverse anytime soon, as the company continues to hire more employees each quarter, with headcount reaching a record 7,630 in Q2.

Investors will have to get used to persistent losses if Snowflake wants to take a leading position in the AI ​​industry. However, they are clearly losing patience as the stock has already fallen 39% this year and is now down 71% from its all-time high. One investor that is no longer a shareholder is Berkshire Hathaway, which recently sold its shares.