Datadog is a digital dashboard that keeps an eye on a company’s entire technology setup. It tracks the health of websites, applications, and computer servers in order to ensure everything runs smoothly without any issues.

If a website gets slow, crashes, or gets hacked, Datadog immediately flags what exactly went wrong so engineers can fix it before customers notice.

Why Datadog?

Over the past few weeks, I have become more comfortable with financial modeling. I’ve become more adept at using the comparative valuation technique and—again—I decided that I wanted to focus on stocks in the technology sector.

Datadog serves not as a traditional cybersecurity company, but as an observability and cloud security platform. The difference lies in the fact that cybersecurity relies on external defense, whereas DDOG relies on creating visibility in issues.

I chose DDOG because I recently came across headlines featuring the company; Datadog crossed a billion dollars in revenue this past Q1, shattering analysts expectations of mid-nine-hundred millions.

The Numbers:

Revenue Trend YoY

• 2025 - $3.43B (+ 27.68%)

• 2024 - $2.68B (+26.12%)

• 2023 - $2.13B

The Bull Case:

As an incoming finance student, I’ve felt that learning technical skills is of utmost importance. As such, I’ve learned more about the comparative valuation model. I used a comparative valuation model to gauge the relative value of DDOG using a collection of companies I thought to be comparable peers.

After doing the necessary calculations and ensuring there was no error in my formulas, I found that the implied share price using revenue was ~$199 despite DDOG trading at ~$269.

At first, I figured that DDOG was massively overvalued, but then I got to thinking. I began wondering if the form 10-K had information that would explain the gap. I realized that a gap like this between the implied share price and the actual share price can be explained by the market anticipating growth, an unthought of metric, or the stock just being massively overvalued.

Comps says DDOG is overpriced even after adjusting for growth — my model implies $199-something versus its actual ~$269. But the 10-K shows something the multiple can’t capture: net revenue retention climbed to ~120% in FY2025, up from the high-110s the year before. That means DDOG’s existing customers are spending meaningfully more each year, not just holding steady — a land-and-expand engine that’s getting stronger, not weaker. That’s the kind of quality-of-growth signal that can justify a premium multiple even when the peer-relative math says ‘expensive.’

Risks I’m Watching:

I calculated DDOGS adjusted growth rate and compared it to the median of its peers’ growth rates and I saw the DDOG was still expensive relative to its growth.

Using the comps model, it became clear that DDOG was massively overvalued and it isn’t exactly clear that the current cost is a justifiable cost to purchase a share at, as it is technically overvalued—by the comps model of course.

Verdict:

DDOG in comparison to the peers I selected has been shown to be severely overvalued. This overvaluation can mean that the stock is just overrated, or there is something not accounted for in the comps model. While ~$199 to ~$269 is a significant gap showcasing how expensive DDOG currently is, the gap can largely be explained by investor expectations. The gap cannot be explained by current growth or revenue, but the net revenue retention. NRR in FY2025 climbed to 122%, meaning that customers were not only spending the same as 2024, but actually 22% more, and in years previous, the NRR has also been over 100%. One thing I have learned is that the comps model alone cannot determine whether a stock is a buy or a sell, there is always other metrics and factors to account for. In light of all that, I’ve decided to buy—and watch—$25 of DDOG in anticipation that the exceptional NRR will continue and further generation growth. I’m taking a small $25 position — betting the market’s paying for durability the comps model doesn’t see — while staying aware that if that expansion rate decelerates, this stock has more room to fall than a ‘fairly priced’ one would.

References:
Datadog, Inc. (2026). Annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1561550/000162828026008819/ddog-20251231.htm

MongoDB, Inc. (2025). Annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025. https://investors.mongodb.com/static-files/2e35ada9-36d6-4ea2-a03a-bbba3b559770

Palantir Technologies Inc. (2025). Annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. https://investors.palantir.com/files/2025%20FY%20PLTR%2010-K.pdf

Snowflake Inc. (2025). Annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1640147/000164014725000052/snow-20250131.htm

Stock Analysis. (n.d.). Datadog (DDOG) statistics. https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/ddog/statistics/

Stock Analysis. (n.d.). MongoDB (MDB) statistics. https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/mdb/statistics/

Stock Analysis. (n.d.). Palantir Technologies (PLTR) statistics. https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/pltr/statistics/

Stock Analysis. (n.d.). Snowflake (SNOW) statistics. https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/snow/statistics/

Legal disclaimer: Not financial advice. I’m a student investor documenting my learning journey publicly. Always do your own research.

Rapid7 is a global cybersecurity software that provides AI-powered solutions for vulnerability management, cloud security, and threat management. Founded in 2000 with an HQ in Boston, Rapid7 is highly utilized by enterprises to protect against cyberattacks.

Why Rapid7?

Over the past week, I have been engaging more and more with financial modeling. I eventually became more comfortable with valuation, and so I learned the comparative valuation technique.

In the past, I’ve stated that focusing on technology-based stocks will be important as the world moves more and more into a society with advanced artificial intelligence. I came across Rapid7 and thought that, just like artificial intelligence, Rapid7 can be grown at a compounding rate.

The Numbers:

Revenue trend (Q1, year-over-year):

• Q1’22: ~$157M

• Q1’23: ~$183M (+16.6%)

• Q1’24: ~$205M (+12.0%)

• Q1’25: ~$202M (−1.5%)

• Q1’26: ~$209M (+3.5%)

Full-year revenue:

• FY2023: ~$777M

• FY2024: ~$844M (+8.6%)

• FY2025: ~$860M (+1.9%)

The Bull Case:

As previously mentioned, I’ve been learning more about financial modeling and recently picked up comparative analysis. I put Rapid7 as a target for a comps model, with its peers being Qualys, Five9, and Tenable. I will paste a screenshot of the excel file below.

After making all the necessary calculations, I found that the implied share price derived by the EBITDA of RPD was $7.44, and using revenue was $32.96.

Using either method, the current market share price of Rapid7 is below the implied share price using peer values, which can suggest that Rapid7 is cheap relative to the money they generate.

Risks I’m Watching:

At first, I thought there was a mistake in my calculation or Excel formulas, but then I noticed a considerable gap and wondered why EBITDA was so much smaller than the revenue. EBITDA is earnings accounting for operating expenses whereas revenue is just money generated, so the difference had to be in how expensive operations were.

I looked into the expenses and saw that although Rapid7 generates well over $800M a year, they also generate almost $600M in operating expenses and have a net debt of almost $300M.

Verdict:

After all that, simply saying that Rapid7 is cheap relative to its peers isn’t enough to justify the overwhelming operating expenses. However, after diving deeper into the income statement specifics, I found that more than half of Rapid7’s total operating expenses come from aggressive sales and marketing tactics with G&A being the smallest factor. Basically, most of their operating expenses are controllable expenses like S&M. Rapid7 shows continued focus on growth by putting less towards G&A, and contributing more money to acquiring more customers.

However, all of that is not enough to explain Rapid7’s declining ARR and decelerating revenue growth across quarters. The cheapness highlighted by the model provides some optimism, but the net debt and lack of growth make this a “buy and watch,” not a clean buy.

It’s worth noting the decline isn’t spread evenly — Rapid7’s core detection and response business, which makes up about 55% of total ARR, actually grew around 7% year-over-year. The overall numbers look weaker than that because a smaller, legacy product line is shrinking and dragging the total down, which softens the picture a bit even if it doesn’t erase the concern.

References

Cabodevila, P. (2026, May 5). Rapid7 (RPD) Q1 2026 earnings call transcript. The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/05/05/rapid7-rpd-q1-2026-earnings-call-transcript/

Investing.com. (2026, May 6). Rapid7 Q1 2026 slides: Earnings beat masks revenue headwinds. https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/rapid7-q1-2026-slides-earnings-beat-masks-revenue-headwinds-93CH-4661431

Investing.com. (2026, May 11). Earnings call transcript: Rapid7 Q1 2026 beats EPS forecasts, stock dips. https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-rapid7-q1-2026-beats-eps-forecasts-stock-dips-93CH-4677869

Investing.com. (2026, May 11). Rapid7 Q1 2026 slides: Earnings beat overshadowed by guidance concerns. https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/rapid7-q1-2026-slides-earnings-beat-overshadowed-by-guidance-concerns-93CH-4677934

Rapid7, Inc. (n.d.). Quarterly results. Investor Relations. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://investors.rapid7.com/financials/quarterly-results/default.aspx

StockAnalysis.com. (n.d.). Rapid7, Inc. (RPD) financials. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/rpd/financials/

StockAnalysis.com. (n.d.). Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) financials. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/qlys/financials/

StockAnalysis.com. (n.d.). Tenable Holdings, Inc. (TENB) financials. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/tenb/financials/

StockAnalysis.com. (n.d.). Five9, Inc. (FIVN) financials. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/fivn/financials/

StockTitan. (2026, May 5). Rapid7 announces first quarter 2026 financial results. https://www.stocktitan.net/news/RPD/rapid7-announces-first-quarter-2026-financial-fmpsf9udv2sp.html

Legal disclaimer: Not financial advice. I’m a student investor documenting my learning journey publicly. Always do your own research.

Visa isn’t a bank. It can’t give you a loan or hold your money. What it does is simpler and more powerful — it’s the network that connects banks to each other, sitting in the middle of every digital transaction and collecting a small toll every time money moves. That’s it. And that simplicity is exactly why it’s interesting.

Why Visa?

We’re moving into a world where everything — including money — is handled digitally. Every time a cash transaction becomes a card or digital payment, Visa gets paid. The structural shift toward digital money isn’t a 2026 story. It’s a decade-long tailwind, especially in emerging markets across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa where cash still dominates.

The network effect is the core of the thesis: the more banks that use Visa, the more merchants have to accept it. The more merchants accept it, the more banks need to offer it. It compounds on itself, which makes it nearly impossible to displace.

I chose Visa as my first pick because I wanted exposure to tech-driven transformation without pure tech risk. Visa sits at the intersection of finance and digitization — it benefits from every AI payment, every digital wallet, every online transaction — without needing to build the AI itself.

The Numbers (Q2 FY2026)

Net revenue hit $11.2 billion, up 17% year-over-year — and context matters here: that’s the strongest revenue growth since 2013, excluding post-pandemic recovery effects. StocktitanInvesting.com

Payments volume grew 9% to $3.7 trillion. Processed transactions reached 66 billion, also up 9%. Visa Direct transactions — their peer-to-peer and B2B transfer product — grew 23% year-over-year. Value-added services revenue grew 27% to $3.3 billion. Yahoo Finance

EPS of $3.31 beat analyst forecasts by $0.22, or roughly 7%. Investing.com

Analysts project revenue and EPS growing at CAGRs of 11% and 18% respectively from 2025 to 2028. The stock trades at roughly 25x this year’s earnings with a forward dividend yield of 0.8% and a low payout ratio of 22%, leaving room for future dividend growth.

The Bull Case

The cash-to-card shift in emerging markets is still early. Visa’s commercial and money movement solutions — B2B payments, government disbursements, cross-border transfers — grew 24% in constant dollars last quarter. This isn’t just consumer credit cards anymore. The total addressable market keeps expanding. Yahoo Finance

The Risks I’m Watching

Two things could hurt this thesis. First, regulatory pressure — governments globally are scrutinizing swipe fees, and any cap on interchange rates hits margins directly. Second, alternative payment rails like FedNow in the US and real-time payment systems globally could eventually route around Visa’s network for domestic transactions. Neither is an immediate threat, but both are worth tracking quarterly.

The Verdict

$25 is a small position, intentionally. This is week one of building a portfolio from scratch, and Visa is a foundational holding — high margins, dominant network, and a structural tailwind I expect to play out over years not months. I’ll hold for at least 12 months and revisit the thesis if the regulatory picture changes materially.

Legal disclaimer: Not financial advice. I’m a student investor documenting my learning journey publicly. Always do your own research.

Most people celebrate this milestone with a party; I’m celebrating by opening my first brokerage account and launching Beekkam Invests.

My goal is simple but ambitious: I am going to research and invest in one new stock or fund regularly.

Why am I doing this?

I am a prospective student at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, with my sights set on the Investment Banking Workshop (IBW). In the world of high finance, talk is cheap, but a track record is everything. This blog is my public ledger—a place where I will document my reasoning, my research, and my results.

What you can expect:

With every post I will publish a “Deep Dive” into a specific investment. These won’t just be “tips.” I will be analyzing:

• The Thesis: Why I believe this asset is undervalued or poised for growth.

• The Risks: What could go wrong and how I plan to mitigate it.

• The Financials: A look at the P&L, balance sheet, and key valuation metrics.

The Accountability Factor

By making this public, I am holding myself to a higher standard of rigor. Whether I’m right or wrong, the goal is to learn the mechanics of the market in real-time.

If you’re interested in following the j1ourney of a student working toward Wall Street, or if you just want to see how an 18-year-old navigates the markets from day one, I invite you to subscribe.

The journey starts now.

Beekkam

Founder, BeekkamInvests.com

Disclaimer:

The content on BeekkamInvests.com is for informational and educational purposes only. I am an 18-year-old student documenting my personal investment journey; I am not a financial advisor, broker, or tax professional. Nothing published here should be construed as investment, legal, or tax advice. Investing involves significant risk of loss, and you should always conduct your own due diligence or consult with a licensed professional before making any financial decisions. I may hold positions in the securities mentioned.

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