CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)

The financial data exhibits several noteworthy trends over the analyzed periods.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

There has been a consistent and significant increase in NOPAT from January 31, 2020, through January 31, 2024, rising from $139.1 million to $690.7 million. This reflects a robust growth trajectory in operating profit. However, in the most recent period ending January 31, 2025, there is a noticeable decline to $516.4 million, indicating a reduction in profitability.

Cost of Capital

The cost of capital has remained relatively stable across the time frame, fluctuating slightly between 15.96% and 16.21%. This consistency suggests that the firm’s risk profile and funding costs have not experienced significant changes.

Invested Capital

Invested capital has increased substantially throughout the periods, from approximately $669.5 million in 2020 to $7.6 billion by 2025. This growth points to considerable capital deployment to support the company’s operations and expansion efforts.

Economic Profit

Economic profit displays a contrasting pattern compared to NOPAT. The initial positive economic profit of roughly $30.6 million in 2020 transitions to persistent negative values starting in 2021, deepening to -$713.7 million in 2025. This negative economic profit indicates that the returns on invested capital have not met or exceeded the cost of capital, implying value erosion despite rising operating profits.

Overall, while operational profitability has generally increased, the substantial growth in invested capital combined with a stable yet relatively high cost of capital has resulted in consistent negative economic profit from 2021 onward. This suggests that the capital investments have not generated sufficient returns to cover the associated costs, highlighting potential concerns regarding capital efficiency and value creation in recent years.

Net Income (Loss) Attributable to CrowdStrike

The net income figures demonstrate significant variability over the periods. Starting with a net loss of approximately $141.8 million in the year ending January 2020, the loss decreased to about $92.6 million in January 2021. However, this was followed by an increased loss to roughly $234.8 million in January 2022. Thereafter, the loss narrowed to $183.2 million in 2023. Notably, in 2024, there was a reversal to a positive net income of $89.3 million, indicating a substantial recovery. In the following year, 2025, the figure returned to a loss, though much smaller than previous years, at approximately $19.3 million.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

The NOPAT values exhibit a consistent and strong upward trend over the years observed. Starting at $139.1 million in 2020, there was a steep increase to $246.0 million in 2021. The upward momentum continued in 2022 with $389.9 million, then sharply increased to $625.9 million in 2023. In 2024, NOPAT further grew to $690.7 million before experiencing a decline to $516.4 million in 2025. Despite the decrease in the final year, the overall trend across the period indicates strong growth in operational profitability after taxes.

Summary of Trends and Insights

The financial data reveals a divergence between net income and NOPAT trends. While net income shows volatility with alternating losses and positive results, NOPAT consistently increased until 2024 before slightly declining in 2025. This suggests that operational efficiency and profitability improvements were achieved, but other factors such as non-operating expenses, taxes, or one-time items might have adversely impacted the net income figures. The significant positive net income in 2024 stands out as an anomaly compared to other years with net losses. The decreasing net loss in 2025 alongside a decline in NOPAT might indicate emerging challenges or increased costs affecting overall profitability despite strong operational earnings.

Provision for Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes shows significant fluctuation over the observed periods. From 2020 to 2021, there is a noticeable increase from approximately 2 million to nearly 4.8 million US dollars. This upward trend continues sharply into 2022, reaching over 72 million US dollars. However, in 2023, the provision declines substantially to around 22 million US dollars before increasing again in the subsequent years, rising to about 32 million and then further to approximately 71 million US dollars by 2025. This pattern indicates periods of considerable variability in tax provisioning, suggesting changes in taxable income or adjustments in tax strategy during these years.

Cash Operating Taxes

Cash operating taxes follow a somewhat similar but less volatile pattern compared to the provision for income taxes. Starting at close to 2.8 million US dollars in 2020, the cash taxes increase to around 6 million US dollars in 2021. There is a significant spike in 2022 reaching over 91 million US dollars, which is a marked increase from previous years. Following this peak, the cash tax payments decrease sharply to approximately 15.8 million US dollars in 2023, then decline further to just over 10 million in 2024, before increasing again to about 45.9 million US dollars in 2025. The fluctuations in cash taxes suggest variability in actual tax payments that may reflect changes in cash flows or timing differences relative to the provision for income taxes.

Comparison and Insights

Both provision for income taxes and cash operating taxes exhibit significant fluctuations, with peaks around 2022, followed by declines and then increases toward 2025. The provision generally exceeds the cash taxes in some years, particularly noticeable in 2022, indicating potential deferred tax liabilities or adjustments in tax accounting treatments. The volatile nature of both metrics implies an underlying variability in taxable income or strategic tax management, possibly linked to changes in operating performance or tax regulations during the analyzed periods.

The financial data indicates significant changes in the capital structure and equity position over the observed periods.

Total Reported Debt & Leases

The reported debt and leases showed a substantial increase from approximately $50.7 million in early 2020 to around $779.0 million in early 2021. From 2021 through 2025, the value of reported debt and leases remained relatively stable, fluctuating slightly around the $780 million mark. This suggests that after a sharp rise in debt, the company maintained a consistent level of liabilities related to debt and leases.

Total Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity consistently increased throughout the period, starting from approximately $742.1 million at the beginning of 2020 and rising to nearly $3.28 billion by January 2025. The growth trend appears to accelerate over time, with a remarkable increase especially after 2022, indicating a significant strengthening of the company's equity base and potentially reflecting retained earnings growth, capital raises, or other equity improvements.

Invested Capital

Invested capital experienced a dramatic increase, jumping from about $669.5 million in 2020 to roughly $2.52 billion in 2021. This upward trend continued steadily, reaching over $7.61 billion by early 2025. The data reflects substantial investments and growth in company assets financed by both debt and equity over these years, underscoring rapid expansion or capital deployment activities.

Overall, the data reveals a period of rapid growth in invested capital accompanied by a stable level of debt and a strong expansion of stockholders’ equity. The company's capital structure appears to have shifted towards greater equity financing while maintaining a steady debt position. This trend suggests increased financial strength and capacity to support ongoing operations and growth initiatives.

The financial data reveals notable fluctuations and a general declining trend in key profitability measures over the observed period.

Economic Profit

Economic profit demonstrated considerable volatility, beginning with a positive value of approximately $30.6 million in 2020. However, it declined sharply into negative territory thereafter and consistently remained negative through 2025. The losses deepened significantly, reaching an estimated negative $713.7 million by 2025. This indicates increasing economic losses over time.

Invested Capital

The invested capital showed a pronounced upward trajectory during the period, increasing substantially from around $670 million in 2020 to over $7.6 billion in 2025. This growth suggests escalating capital investments or acquisitions, signifying expansion strategies or increased capital expenditures in the business.

Economic Spread Ratio

The economic spread ratio, which reflects the return on invested capital relative to cost, started positively at 4.56% in 2020 but quickly turned negative (-6.29%) by 2021. It remained negative throughout the subsequent years, deteriorating further to -9.37% in 2025. The persistent negative spread indicates that the returns generated on the invested capital were insufficient to cover associated capital costs, exacerbating financial strain as the invested capital base expanded.

Overall, the data indicates a period of aggressive capital deployment coupled with declining profitability and economic returns. The persistent negative economic profit and spread ratio despite increased invested capital suggest challenges in generating adequate returns on new investments. This pattern points to potential inefficiencies or difficulties in the business environment or strategy that warrant further investigation to restore value creation.

Economic Profit

The economic profit exhibits a declining trend over the analyzed period. In the year ending January 31, 2020, the value was positive at 30,555 thousand US dollars. However, from January 31, 2021, onwards, the economic profit turned negative and continued to decrease substantially, reaching a low of -713,668 thousand US dollars by January 31, 2025. This progression indicates increasing economic losses over time.

Adjusted Revenue

Adjusted revenue shows consistent and robust growth across the years. Starting from 762,514 thousand US dollars in January 2020, revenue nearly doubled by January 2022, reaching 2,069,020 thousand US dollars, and maintained a steady upward trajectory thereafter. By January 31, 2025, adjusted revenue more than doubled again from the 2022 figure, reaching 4,628,202 thousand US dollars. This pattern reflects strong top-line expansion throughout the period.

Economic Profit Margin

The economic profit margin demonstrates a declining trend over the period. Initially positive at 4.01% in January 2020, it fell into negative territory starting January 2021 at -13.07%. Though there was some improvement in January 2023 to -1.02%, the margin worsened again, reaching -15.42% by January 2025. This trend highlights decreasing profitability relative to adjusted revenue despite overall revenue growth.