Summary
MongoDB grew revenue 45.8% in the first quarter of fiscal 2021, which the company described as a strong performance in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total revenue was $130.3 million. Subscription revenue grew 49% while services revenue grew 1%. Atlas, the hosted database service, accounted for 42% of total revenue and grew more than 75% year over year, and MongoDB Enterprise Advanced represented 49% of subscription revenue. The customer base grew to more than 18,400 at April 30, 2020, up from over 14,200 a year earlier, and 780 customers had $100,000 or more in annualized recurring revenue and annualized monthly recurring revenue, compared with 598 a year earlier. Management said the current environment is reinforcing long-term trends toward digital transformation and cloud migration.
Profitability moved the other way. Gross profit was $92.7 million, up 51.4%, and gross margin rose to 71.1%, up 2.6 percentage points, helped by better management of third-party cloud infrastructure costs. Operating loss widened to $42.0 million, and the operating margin was negative 32.3%, up 2.0 percentage points. Net loss widened to $54.0 million. Diluted loss per share widened to $0.94. The company excludes stock-based compensation and debt-related amortization from its non-GAAP figures: non-GAAP loss from operations was $7.4 million, compared with $12.6 million in the prior-year quarter, and non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.13, compared with $0.22.
Cash generation slipped. Operating cash flow was negative $5.9 million for the quarter, down from the prior-year quarter, and capital expenditures rose to $1.5 million. Free cash flow, which is not a GAAP measure, was negative $8.5 million, compared with positive $2.8 million a year earlier. Deferred revenue was $193.0 million, up 34.3%, and remaining performance obligations were $209.7 million, up 17.3%. MongoDB said its existing cash and short-term investments will fund operating and capital needs for at least the next 12 months.
Guidance for the second quarter and the full fiscal year carries the pandemic impact forward. For the second quarter of fiscal 2021, MongoDB guided to a non-GAAP loss from operations of $22.0 million to $24.0 million and non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.38 to $0.41. For the full fiscal year 2021, guidance is a non-GAAP loss from operations of $70.0 million to $78.0 million and non-GAAP net loss per share of $1.21 to $1.34. The company said the guidance reflects its current view of the negative impact from the pandemic and the macroeconomic environment. It also noted that prior guidance assumed business activity would normalize in the second half of the year, which it now believes is unlikely.
Risk runs through the pandemic. MongoDB expects revenue to be negatively affected by the slowdown and global uncertainty at least through fiscal 2021, and it recorded a higher allowance for credit losses because a portion of its customers may face financial difficulty. Travel restrictions cut travel costs, and the company plans to reinvest part of those savings in marketing programs and research and development headcount, which rose 37%. Total headcount was 2,020 at April 30, 2020, up from 1,331, while sales and marketing headcount grew to 922 from 527. Other stated risks include a history of losses and intense competition. MongoDB World became a free two-day digital event on June 9 and 10.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q1 FY2021 | Q4 FY2020 | QoQ | Q1 FY2020 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $130.3M | $123.5M | +5.5% | $89.4M | +45.8% |
| Gross profit | $92.7M | $88.7M | +4.4% | $61.2M | +51.4% |
| Gross margin | 71.1% | 71.8% | -0.7 pp | 68.5% | +2.6 pp |
| Research & development | $45.6M | $41.6M | +9.6% | $30.9M | +47.8% |
| Sales & marketing | $69.1M | $67.2M | +2.8% | $46.1M | +49.9% |
| General & administrative | $19.9M | $20.8M | -4.0% | $14.8M | +34.7% |
| Total operating expenses | $134.7M | $129.6M | +3.9% | $91.8M | +46.7% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$42.0M | -$40.9M | -2.8% | -$30.6M | -37.5% |
| Operating margin | -32.3% | -33.1% | +0.9 pp | -34.2% | +2.0 pp |
| Net income (loss) | -$54.0M | -$62.6M | +13.7% | -$33.2M | -62.4% |
| Net margin | -41.4% | -50.6% | +9.2 pp | -37.2% | -4.2 pp |
| Customers | 89,388 | — | — | 50,139 | +78.3% |
Risks
COVID-19 and associated global economic uncertainty are expected to negatively impact revenue at least through fiscal 2021, and the company recorded a higher allowance for credit losses in the quarter ended April 30, 2020 due to possible customer financial difficulties.
The sales cycle is generally three to nine months but can exceed a year for some customers, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is expected to continue to impact the sales pipeline and bookings.
MongoDB faces intense competition from legacy database providers such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle and from cloud providers such as AWS, GCP and Microsoft Azure, many of which have greater resources and can bundle competing products.
Chief Technology Officer Eliot Horowitz has notified the company of his intent to resign as of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and the loss of senior management or key employees could adversely affect execution of the business plan.
MongoDB outsources substantially all MongoDB Atlas infrastructure to AWS, Microsoft Azure and GCP, so service interruptions, delays or outages from those providers could trigger service level credits and harm results.
The company issued $1.15 billion aggregate principal amount of 0.25% convertible senior notes due 2026 and has outstanding 0.75% convertible senior notes due 2024, increasing interest and debt discount amortization obligations.
A majority of subscription contracts were one year in duration in fiscal 2020, and customers have no obligation to renew, so failure to renew or expand usage would harm future results.
Operating cash flow was negative $5.9 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2020 compared with $3.2 million for the prior-year quarter, and the company may need additional capital if operating losses continue.
The Server Side Public License for Community Server has not been approved by the Open Source Initiative and may be found unenforceable, which could reduce adoption or allow competitors to use MongoDB software.
MongoDB software can store and transmit customer data, and industry publications have reported ransomware attacks on MongoDB instances due to users of Community Server not enabling recommended security settings.
The company is subject to evolving privacy laws including the CCPA and GDPR, with GDPR fines up to 20 million euros or 4% of global turnover, which could increase compliance costs and liability.
MongoDB Atlas is a significant and growing portion of total revenue, and increased Atlas mix may pressure gross margin because of associated third-party cloud hosting costs.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Total Customers
MongoDB Atlas Customers
Direct Sales Customers
Free Cash Flow
Customers over $100K ARR
Non-GAAP Gross Margin
Non-GAAP Loss from Operations
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from MongoDB, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q1 FY2021 (10-Q / 10-K and the 8-K earnings release); GAAP figures in the summary are checked against the reported XBRL data. They can contain errors; the filings are authoritative. Processed Oct 2, 2026.