As the Q3 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the software development industry, including HashiCorp (NASDAQ:HCP) and its peers.

As legendary VC investor Marc Andreessen says, "Software is eating the world", and it touches virtually every industry. That drives increasing demand for tools helping software developers do their jobs, whether it be monitoring critical cloud infrastructure, integrating audio and video functionality, or ensuring smooth content streaming.

The 11 software development stocks we track reported a strong Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 3.3% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.7% above.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 8.7% on average since the latest earnings results.

HashiCorp (NASDAQ:HCP)

Initially created as a research project at the University of Washington, HashiCorp (NASDAQ:HCP) provides software that helps companies operate their own applications in a multi-cloud environment.

HashiCorp reported revenues of $173.4 million, up 18.7% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 6.1%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and billings in line with analysts’ estimates.

“The HashiCorp team delivered strong performance during the third quarter of fiscal 2025, with revenue growth of 19% year-over-year, and 8% growth in $100,000 customers year-over-year” said Dave McJannet, CEO, HashiCorp.

Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 1.2% since reporting and currently trades at $33.23.

Is now the time to buy HashiCorp? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q3: JFrog (NASDAQ:FROG)

Named after the founders' affinity for frogs, JFrog (NASDAQ:FROG) provides a software-as-a-service platform that makes developing and releasing software easier and faster, especially for large teams.

JFrog reported revenues of $109.1 million, up 23% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.3%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates and accelerating growth in large customers.

Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 5.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $31.20.

Is now the time to buy JFrog? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q3: Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Founded in 1999 by two engineers from MIT, Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM) provides software for organizations to efficiently deliver web content to their customers.

Akamai reported revenues of $1.00 billion, up 4.1% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. Still, it was a slower quarter as it posted full-year revenue guidance meeting analysts’ expectations.

Akamai delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 6.4% since the results and currently trades at $97.74.

Read our full analysis of Akamai’s results here.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Initially started as a hardware appliances company in the late 1990s, F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) makes software that helps large enterprises ensure their web applications are always available by distributing network traffic and protecting them from cyberattacks.

F5 reported revenues of $746.7 million, up 5.6% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and revenue guidance for next quarter slightly topping analysts’ expectations.

The stock is up 21.2% since reporting and currently trades at $264.85.

Read our full, actionable report on F5 here, it’s free.

Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG)

Named after a database the founders had to painstakingly look after at their previous company, Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) is a software-as-a-service platform that makes it easier to monitor cloud infrastructure and applications.

Datadog reported revenues of $690 million, up 26% year on year. This result surpassed analysts’ expectations by 3.8%. It was a very strong quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ annual recurring revenue estimates and EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

The company added 100 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 3,490. The stock is up 20.8% since reporting and currently trades at $155.

Read our full, actionable report on Datadog here, it’s free.

Market Update

Thanks to the Fed's series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has cooled significantly from its post-pandemic highs, drawing closer to the 2% goal. This disinflation has occurred without severely impacting economic growth, suggesting the success of a soft landing. The stock market has thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% in November), and a notable surge followed Donald Trump’s presidential election win in November, propelling indices to historic highs. Nonetheless, the outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. The path forward holds both optimism and caution as new policies take shape.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 6 Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

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