CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

The net operating profit after taxes displayed a consistent and significant upward trend from 2020 through 2024, increasing from $139,090 thousand in 2020 to a peak of $690,745 thousand in 2024. However, in 2025, there is a notable decline to $516,439 thousand, indicating a reversal after several years of growth.

Cost of Capital

The cost of capital remained relatively stable over the six-year period, fluctuating narrowly between 15.91% and 16.16%. This stability suggests a consistent required rate of return or capital structure in this timeframe without major shifts in risk perception or financing cost.

Invested Capital

Invested capital experienced a substantial increase each year, growing from $669,497 thousand in 2020 to $7,614,215 thousand in 2025. This reflects aggressive capital investment or asset growth, which more than doubled every few years, signaling an expansion strategy.

Economic Profit

Economic profit exhibited significant volatility and negative trends despite the increase in NOPAT and invested capital. In 2020, economic profit was positive at $30,914 thousand but turned negative in 2021 and remained negative through 2025. The losses widened notably, reaching a substantial negative $709,608 thousand in 2025. This suggests that the returns generated on invested capital did not exceed the cost of capital in most years, implying value destruction despite profitable operations at the accounting level.

Summary

Overall, while the company showed strong growth in net operating profit and invested capital over the period, the economic profit data reveals a critical challenge: the capital employed did not generate returns above its cost. The stable cost of capital coupled with rising invested capital and declining economic profits highlight inefficiencies in asset utilization or potentially overinvestment, impacting shareholder value negatively 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.

Economic Profit

The economic profit exhibited a volatile and declining trend over the analyzed periods. It started positively at 30,914 thousand US dollars in early 2020 but turned negative from 2021 onwards. The losses deepened significantly by 2024 and peaked negatively at 709,608 thousand US dollars in early 2025, indicating a substantial deterioration in economic profitability over time.

Invested Capital

Invested capital showed consistent growth throughout the periods assessed. Beginning at 669,497 thousand US dollars in early 2020, it increased sharply to 2,524,874 thousand by early 2021 and continued to rise each year, reaching 7,614,215 thousand US dollars by early 2025. This steady expansion indicates ongoing capital deployment or asset accumulation by the company.

Economic Spread Ratio

The economic spread ratio followed a decreasing trajectory, starting from a positive 4.62% in early 2020 and turning negative from 2021 onwards. It experienced some fluctuation but generally worsened, reaching -9.32% in early 2025. This negative spread ratio suggests that the return generated on invested capital has been consistently below the cost of capital, aligning with the negative economic profit observed.

Adjusted Revenue

The adjusted revenue shows a consistent and significant upward trend over the periods analyzed. It increased from approximately 762.5 million USD in early 2020 to around 4.63 billion USD by early 2025, demonstrating strong growth momentum.

Economic Profit

Economic profit exhibited a declining trend after the initial positive figure of 30.9 million USD in early 2020. From 2021 onward, economic profit turned negative, reaching a low point of approximately -709.6 million USD by early 2025, indicating increasing losses over time despite revenue growth.

Economic Profit Margin

The economic profit margin followed a similar downward trajectory. Starting from a positive margin of 4.05% in early 2020, it dropped into negative territory consistently thereafter. By early 2025, the margin further declined to -15.33%, signifying deteriorating profitability relative to revenue.

Overall Analysis

Despite strong revenue growth over the five-year period, the company experienced worsening economic profitability. The widening negative economic profit and margin indicate increased costs or inefficiencies outpacing revenue gains. This pattern suggests challenges in converting revenue growth into economic value, highlighting areas for cost control or operational improvement.