What Did CrowdStrike Do That MongoDB Did Not

For questions about this article or underlying research, email [email protected].

CrowdStrike and MongoDB operate in the systems software industry, and both companies were still losing money five years ago (on a reported (GAAP) basis). Over the five years to November 2026, one stock rose 261.6% while the other fell 35.7%. CrowdStrike (CRWD) posted the 261.6% gain, and MongoDB (MDB) recorded the 35.7% decline. So where did a gap that wide come from: faster sales, bigger profits, or investors paying more for each dollar of sales?

Who Has Beaten MongoDB Over Five Years?

MongoDB has held up better than most of its industry. Over those five years, its stock beat 60.9% of the 69 systems software companies compared. Two other companies came within 4 points of MongoDB's sales growth over the last three years, yet they beat its stock by a wide margin.

AvePoint (AVPT) finished 113.0 points ahead of MongoDB over the five years. CrowdStrike opened a lead more than twice as wide, making it the sharper comparison.

Did CrowdStrike Grow Faster Than MongoDB?

Yes, by a few points a year. CrowdStrike's sales grew an average of 26.9% a year over the last three years, compared with 23.2% for MongoDB. CrowdStrike sells cloud-delivered security, mostly as subscriptions to its Falcon platform.

Those few points accumulated. CrowdStrike's revenue rose 374.2% between 2021 and 2026, compared with a 296.3% increase for MongoDB. CrowdStrike's sales grew faster over the five years, and that is part of the gap.

Both companies also issued shares along the way. MongoDB's diluted share count rose 29.3% between 2021 and 2026, and CrowdStrike's increased 15.4%, leaving MongoDB's holders more diluted.

Where Did The Gap Come From?

The gap did not come from profits. Between 2021 and 2026, MongoDB's operating margin improved by 35.3 points, compared with an 8.2-point improvement for CrowdStrike. MongoDB cut its operating loss from 35.8% of sales to about break-even over the latest twelve months.

Neither company turned a profit in 2021, making sales the basis for comparing what investors pay. MongoDB's stock went from 32.7 times sales in 2021 to 9.7 times in 2026. Both multiples are priced on June 30. The five-year return runs to November 3, 2026, meaning the periods do not match exactly.

CrowdStrike's stock went from 48.9 times sales to 50.0 times over the same years, with both multiples priced on September 30. Investors now pay far less for each dollar of MongoDB's sales than they did in 2021, while paying about the same for CrowdStrike's. The multiple made the difference, not profits.

That lower multiple now buys a business starting to make an operating profit. Atlas, the main line of MongoDB's database business, made up 73.4% of revenue in fiscal 2026. MongoDB reported an operating profit of 3.7% of sales in its second quarter of fiscal 2027, though management's own forecast still calls for a reported operating loss of $10.5 million to $14.5 million in the third quarter.

What To Watch In MongoDB's Next Report

Sales growth is the component of that gap MongoDB reports every quarter. On its fiscal Q2 2027 call on September 1, 2026, management said revenue grew 30%, marking MongoDB's highest quarterly growth since fiscal 2024. Chief executive CJ Desai stepped down on September 28, 2026, to join Meta Platforms.

For the third quarter, management expects growth of 20% to 21% and called it the toughest comparison of the year for Atlas. Management still expects Atlas itself to grow about 26%. It also said it will stay prudent in guiding its EA business because multiyear deals are hard to predict. EA is the version of MongoDB that customers run and manage themselves. Results over the last three quarters came in about 2 to 3 points above management's first forecasts.

The figure to watch is MongoDB's sales growth for its fiscal third quarter, in the report expected in November 2026.

How To Act On MDB?

Not necessarily on MongoDB alone, if your goal is long-term wealth. Wealth is built by owning the companies that keep outperforming, the leaders of their industries, wherever they are. Here are two companies from MongoDB's own industry that have beaten it. Over the five years to November 2026, CrowdStrike stock rose 261.6% and AvePoint stock rose 77%, while MongoDB stock fell 35.7%.

Finding companies like these takes comparison across industries and sectors, and that is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does. It holds 30 quality companies in equal weight and, since its inception in September 2020, has returned more than 105%, ahead of a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap and Russell 2000. See how we find the leaders.

Spot an error or want more like this? Tell us in 10 seconds.