# How Datadog (DDOG) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/ddog
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on DDOG alone. It places DDOG (Datadog, Inc.) against 19 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where DDOG stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: DDOG's full trading record, from September 2019 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** DDOG has run far ahead of the market, rising 97.6% over the past 6 months against 9.1% for the S&P 500 and 11.2% for the Nasdaq 100. Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 6 months, SNOW (Snowflake) rose 112% and ORCL (Oracle) fell 25.6%.
- **Stock or market?:** The weakness is DDOG's own: it fell 2.6% over the past 3 months while the application software ETF IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF) rose 15.0%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its application software peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: MSFT (Microsoft) rose 32.5%, while CSCO (Cisco Systems) fell 3.2%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, DDOG rose 64.1% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (198% against 89.3%). On the flip side, DDOG finished behind the S&P 500 in both 2024 and 2025.
- **Long term:** DDOG turned $10,000 into $16,100 over the past 5 years, against $18,200 in the S&P 500.
- **In a crash:** In the 2022 bear market, DDOG fell 53.0%, against 24.5% for the S&P 500. That was more than MSFT (Microsoft, 31.0%) but less than SNOW (Snowflake, 64.1%).
- **Diversification:** Over 5 years, DDOG's beta versus the S&P 500 was 1.51: in the S&P 500's rising months it gained 1.1 times as much as the index, and in falling months it lost 1.2 times as much. DDOG is some diversification, but not a hedge: a correlation of 0.40 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.41 with the total US market, more closely than 51% of stocks worth at least $300 million.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise), GOOG (Alphabet) and MSFT (Microsoft) earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years. HPE returned 32.9% a year at 42.2% volatility, against 10.1% a year at 59.7%.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** ASX (ASE Technology Holding, semiconductors) and TER (Teradyne, semiconductor equipment) earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years. ASX returned 48.8% a year at 43.0% volatility, against 10.1% a year at 59.7%.
  - **Whole market:** 1,028 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them NVDA (NVIDIA), AAPL (Apple) and GOOG (Alphabet).

## How much would $10,000 in DDOG have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in DDOG over the past 7 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of DDOG over the same span and DDOG's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in DDOG at the end of September 2019 would have grown to $80,755 by September 2026, more than the $28,402 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of DDOG, and NVDA finished highest, at $528,672.

## DDOG at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- DDOG's deepest decline since it began trading in 2019 was 68.1%, from November 2021 to April 2023. It took about three years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over six full calendar years, DDOG's best was 2020, when it returned 161%, and its worst was 2022, when it lost 58.7%. It lost money in two of those years.
- DDOG is 12.6% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Software - Application)
- Trading since: September 19, 2019
- Market value: $92B
- Volatility (5 years): 59.7%; Sharpe ratio: 0.45
- Worst decline ever: −68.1%, from November 9, 2021 to April 25, 2023; back at its high by November 10, 2025

| Period | DDOG total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +4.6% |
| 3 months | −2.6% |
| 6 months | +97.6% |
| year to date | +91.7% |
| 1 year | +64.1% |
| 3 years | +198% |
| 5 years | +61.4% |

## DDOG against the whole market

Where DDOG ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does DDOG rank among all stocks?

This section ranks DDOG on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- DDOG is among the more volatile stocks: its price swings rank in the bottom 22% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.
- DDOG's 1-year return ranks in the top 12% of the 3,287 stocks worth at least $300 million with 1 year of history.

| Measure | DDOG | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +64.1% | 379 of 3,287 (top 12%) |
| 3-year return | +198% | 415 of 3,017 (top 14%) |
| 5-year return | +61.4% | 983 of 2,893 (top 34%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 59.7% | 2,267 of 2,893 (top 79%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.45 | 1,075 of 2,893 (top 38%) |

### What has beaten DDOG on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 712 stocks and 316 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than DDOG over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 28% of the 3,633 screened.
- Among those with at least half DDOG's swings, FIX has the best return for its risk: 77.0% a year at 46.7% volatility, 22% less than DDOG's 59.7%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.46 against 0.45 for DDOG. BELFB earned the most, 78.0% a year, while still swinging less than DDOG (52.1% against 59.7%).
- Among DDOG's popular alternatives, NVDA, HPE and PANW are in the region. NVDA earned 58.0% a year against 10.1% a year for DDOG, at 51.9% volatility, 13% less than DDOG's 59.7%.

### Is there a better investment than DDOG?

The table below lists investments that beat DDOG over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among DDOG's popular alternatives, HPE, GOOG and MSFT earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years. HPE returned 32.9% a year at 42.2% volatility, against 10.1% a year at 59.7%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, ASX (semiconductors) and TER (semiconductor equipment) earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years. ASX returned 48.8% a year at 43.0% volatility, against 10.1% a year at 59.7%.
- Across the whole market, 1,028 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them NVDA, AAPL and GOOG.

The 15 strongest of 1,028 investments that beat DDOG over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 5Y return | Correlation with DDOG | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DDOG: Datadog, Inc. (this page) |  | +10.1% | 59.7% | 0.45 | −68.1% | +61.4% |  |  |
| INSW: International Seaways, Inc. | Oil & Gas | +56.5% | 40.5% | 1.31 | −57.4% | +839% | -0.19 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| FRO: Frontline Plc | Oil & Gas | +52.6% | 49.7% | 1.10 | −52.0% | +726% | -0.14 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [ASX](https://easycompare.io/research/asx): ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. | Semiconductors | +48.8% | 43.0% | 1.15 | −52.5% | +631% | 0.31 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| EXEL: Exelixis, Inc. | Biotechnology | +24.4% | 35.8% | 0.79 | −57.2% | +198% | 0.23 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| HALO: Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. | Biotechnology | +26.6% | 40.4% | 0.79 | −49.1% | +226% | 0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| NHC: National HealthCare Corporation | Medical - Care Facilities | +32.0% | 28.5% | 1.12 | −35.3% | +301% | 0.12 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| FLTW: Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF | Technology | +21.8% | 24.3% | 0.94 | −38.0% | +168% | 0.40 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| VIRT: Virtu Financial, Inc. | Capital Markets | +20.8% | 33.8% | 0.73 | −56.2% | +158% | 0.05 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | Computer Hardware | +55.2% | 54.4% | 1.08 | −59.6% | +800% | 0.59 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +42.1% | 24.7% | 1.55 | −46.1% | +479% | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [AAPL](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl): Apple Inc. | Computer Hardware | +18.5% | 28.0% | 0.75 | −38.5% | +133% | 0.39 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| FTXL: First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF | Technology | +27.4% | 38.8% | 0.82 | −43.9% | +235% | 0.47 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| CPAC: Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. | Construction Materials | +24.4% | 38.8% | 0.74 | −55.9% | +198% | -0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [LLY](https://easycompare.io/research/lly): Eli Lilly and Company | Pharmaceuticals | +40.7% | 32.8% | 1.21 | −34.5% | +451% | 0.12 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [VTI](https://easycompare.io/research/vti): Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF | US Total Market | +11.5% | 17.5% | 0.71 | −35.0% | +72.6% | 0.41 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Smaller losses in recent crashes |

## DDOG against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against DDOG, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do DDOG's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Nine of the 19 popular alternatives, led by NVDA, HPE and PANW, were both more rewarding and calmer than DDOG over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, DDOG returned 10.1% a year, less than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (59.7% against 17.1%).

### Has DDOG consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares DDOG with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over seven periods from one month to five years.

- Three of the 19 popular alternatives, HPE, CRWD and FROG, outperformed DDOG in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 2 long-term timeframes.
- HPE and CRWD outperformed DDOG in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- NVDA, HPE and PANW earned more for the risk they took than DDOG (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in their worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | Periods ahead of DDOG | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DDOG: Datadog, Inc. (this page) | +64.1% | +198% | +61.4% |  |  | 0.45 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | +150% | +296% | +315% | 4/5 short-term, 2/2 long-term | all-weather | 0.89 |
| [CRWD](https://easycompare.io/research/crwd): CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. | +80.6% | +409% | +221% | 4/5 short-term, 2/2 long-term | all-weather | 0.71 |
| FROG: JFrog Ltd. | +92.5% | +313% | +157% | 3/5 short-term, 2/2 long-term | consistent | 0.61 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | +18.8% | +425% | +884% | 1/5 short-term, 2/2 long-term |  | 1.14 |
| [NET](https://easycompare.io/research/net): Cloudflare, Inc. | +36.8% | +391% | +66.1% | 1/5 short-term, 2/2 long-term |  | 0.49 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | +3.8% | +66.6% | +80.3% | 2/5 short-term, 1/2 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [PANW](https://easycompare.io/research/panw): Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | +60.6% | +180% | +299% | 1/5 short-term, 1/2 long-term |  | 0.86 |
| [IBM](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm): International Business Machines Corporation | −12.5% | +93.5% | +116% | 1/5 short-term, 1/2 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | +31.2% | +148% | +138% | 0/5 short-term, 1/2 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| [CSCO](https://easycompare.io/research/csco): Cisco Systems, Inc. | +53.8% | +118% | +118% | 0/5 short-term, 1/2 long-term |  | 0.73 |
| GTLB: GitLab Inc. | +16.8% | +24.1% | −47.9% | 3/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.18 |
| PD: PagerDuty, Inc. | +6.9% | −13.8% | −59.9% | 3/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | -0.04 |
| [NOW](https://easycompare.io/research/now): ServiceNow, Inc. | −18.5% | +37.8% | +9.8% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.27 |
| [SNOW](https://easycompare.io/research/snow): Snowflake Inc. | +30.1% | +116% | −4.3% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.29 |
| DT: Dynatrace, Inc. | +27.0% | +37.4% | −16.9% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.12 |
| ESTC: Elastic N.V. | +14.1% | +20.1% | −43.3% | 2/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.11 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +21.3% | +110% | +53.8% | 1/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.42 |
| [ORCL](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl): Oracle Corporation | −52.1% | +33.3% | +45.1% | 1/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| MDB: MongoDB, Inc. | +11.8% | +5.7% | −27.4% | 1/5 short-term, 0/2 long-term |  | 0.26 |

### How did DDOG do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2020, along with where DDOG ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Among its popular alternatives, CRWD came out ahead of DDOG most often, in five of the six years both traded.
- DDOG finished ahead of the S&P 500 in three of its six full calendar years, and behind it in each of the last two.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, DDOG finished in the top quarter in two of six years and in the bottom quarter in one. In 2025, it ranked 15 of 20.

| Year | DDOG | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | −4.8% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +17.7% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +65.1% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −58.7% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +80.9% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +161% | +18.3% |

## Risk and diversification

How DDOG has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were DDOG's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of DDOG's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: DDOG fell 48.6% from November 2025 to February 2026, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4%.
- The slowest recovery came after DDOG fell 68.1% from November 2021 to April 2023; it did not regain that peak until November 2025, three years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −68.1% | November 9, 2021 | April 25, 2023 | November 10, 2025 | −11.1% | 2022 bear market |
| −48.6% | November 10, 2025 | February 23, 2026 | May 8, 2026 | +0.4% |  |
| −42.1% | February 12, 2020 | March 16, 2020 | May 8, 2020 | −28.9% | Covid crash |
| −39.5% | February 9, 2021 | May 6, 2021 | August 5, 2021 | +7.7% |  |
| −27.4% | August 4, 2026 | September 2, 2026 | October 9, 2026 | −0.8% |  |

### How did DDOG do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far DDOG, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- DDOG fell further than the S&P 500 in all three crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2022 bear market, when DDOG fell 53.0% and the S&P 500 fell 24.5%.
- Among its popular alternatives, MSFT held up best, falling less than DDOG in all three crashes they both traded through.
- DDOG began trading after the 2008 financial crisis, but seven of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was ORCL's 41.1%, against 55.2% for the S&P 500.

| Crash | Dates | DDOG fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | not trading | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | not trading | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | not trading | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | not trading | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | not trading | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | not trading | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −38.8% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −53.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −9.5% | −3.4% |

### How closely does DDOG move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- PANW took just -13% of the S&P 500's losses, against 119% for DDOG, while still keeping 104% of its gains.
- Over the past 5 years, DDOG captured 112% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 119% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.51. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- Eight of the 17 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than DDOG's 0.94, led by CRWD, HPE and NVDA.

Measured over the past 5 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DDOG: Datadog, Inc. (this page) | 112% | 119% | 1.51 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | 154% | 72.0% | 1.39 |
| [CRWD](https://easycompare.io/research/crwd): CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. | 122% | 38.0% | 1.19 |
| FROG: JFrog Ltd. | 146% | 127% | 1.23 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | 259% | 152% | 2.21 |
| [NET](https://easycompare.io/research/net): Cloudflare, Inc. | 118% | 72.0% | 1.64 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | 115% | 126% | 1.10 |
| [PANW](https://easycompare.io/research/panw): Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | 104% | −13.0% | 0.93 |
| [IBM](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm): International Business Machines Corporation | 106% | 104% | 0.73 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | 140% | 132% | 1.20 |
| [CSCO](https://easycompare.io/research/csco): Cisco Systems, Inc. | 98.0% | 75.0% | 0.99 |
| PD: PagerDuty, Inc. | 36.0% | 187% | 0.98 |
| [NOW](https://easycompare.io/research/now): ServiceNow, Inc. | 85.0% | 142% | 0.99 |
| [SNOW](https://easycompare.io/research/snow): Snowflake Inc. | 83.0% | 134% | 1.35 |
| DT: Dynatrace, Inc. | 57.0% | 127% | 0.77 |
| ESTC: Elastic N.V. | 66.0% | 177% | 1.04 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | 125% | 170% | 1.45 |
| [ORCL](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl): Oracle Corporation | 159% | 213% | 1.77 |
| MDB: MongoDB, Inc. | 145% | 285% | 1.74 |

### What diversifies DDOG?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in DDOG into GLD would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 21% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+14.1% for DDOG alone, +17.9% for the mix).
- LVHI made money in two of the two calendar years in which DDOG lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of DDOG over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.14 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with DDOG | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in DDOG's 2 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | -0.12 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 2 of 2 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.14 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 2 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | -0.05 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 2 of 2 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | -0.12 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 2 of 2 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.48 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 1 of 2 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.14 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 1 of 2 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | -0.19 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 1 of 2 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.39 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 2 |

## Common questions

### What was DDOG's worst drawdown?

DDOG's deepest decline since it began trading in 2019 was 68.1%, from November 2021 to April 2023. It took about three years from the low to climb back to its old high. Because DDOG launched in September 2019, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or five other sell-offs.

### What were DDOG's best and worst years?

Over six full calendar years, DDOG's best year was 2020, when it returned 161%. Its worst was 2022, with a return of -58.7%.

### Is there a better investment than DDOG?

Among DDOG's popular alternatives, HPE, GOOG and MSFT earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years. HPE returned 32.9% a year at 42.2% volatility, against 10.1% a year at 59.7%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, ASX (semiconductors) and TER (semiconductor equipment) earned more than DDOG with less volatility over the past 5 years. ASX returned 48.8% a year at 43.0% volatility, against 10.1% a year at 59.7%.

### Is DDOG more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. DDOG's volatility over the past 5 years was 59.7%, 3.5 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, DDOG's return lands within 59.7% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is DDOG's Sharpe ratio?

DDOG's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.45, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so DDOG earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is DDOG with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, DDOG's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.40 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against DDOG instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a DDOG holding.

### What are the best alternatives to DDOG?

Of the 19 popular alternatives we compared, three outperformed DDOG in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 2 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: HPE, CRWD and FROG.

### Did DDOG outperform the S&P 500?

DDOG finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of six full calendar years. In 2025, it returned -4.8%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did DDOG do in stock market crashes?

DDOG fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in none of the three major crashes it has traded through, and further in three. The clearest case was the 2022 bear market, when DDOG fell 53.0% and the S&P 500 fell 24.5%.

### What diversifies DDOG?

These had a low correlation with DDOG over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation -0.12), DXJ (correlation 0.14) and EMLP (correlation -0.05); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.13), CLS (correlation 0.32) and FIX (correlation 0.18). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/ddog
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against DDOG live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=DDOG&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research