Appian (APPN) Reports Q1: Everything You Need to Know Before Earnings

Low-code software development platform provider Appian (Nasdaq: APPN) will report earnings tomorrow before the bell. Here’s what to look for.

Appian beat analyst revenue expectations by 3.2% last quarter, reporting revenue of $145.3 million, up 15.5% year-over-year. It was a good quarter for the company, with solid confirmation of analyst estimates and significant improvement in gross margin.

Does buying or selling Appian affect earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.

Analysts expect Appian’s revenue to grow 10.8% year-over-year to $149.8 million this quarter, a slowdown from the 18.4% growth reported in the same quarter last year. Adjusted loss is expected to be -$0.16 per share.

Most analysts covering the company have reaffirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they expect the company to remain on track towards earnings. Appian has a history of exceeding Wall Street expectations, beating revenue estimates over the past two years by an average of 3.3% each time.

Looking at Appian’s competitors in the productivity software space, some have already reported first-quarter results, which gives us a hint of what to expect. ServiceNow reported year-over-year revenue growth of 24.2%, meeting analyst expectations, and Pegasystems reported revenue growth of 1.4%, missing estimates by 2.1%. Following the results, ServiceNow’s stock fell 4.1%, while Pegasystems’ share price remained unchanged.

Read our full analysis of ServiceNow’s results here and Pegasystems’ results here.

Valuation multiples for many growth stocks have not yet returned to the highs seen in early 2021, but the market became more optimistic in late 2023 thanks to cooling inflation. The start of 2024 is a different story as mixed signals have led to market volatility and while some productivity software stocks have performed slightly better, they have not been spared, with share prices down an average of 4% over the past month. Appian’s share price is unchanged over the same period and is trending toward earnings, with an average analyst price target of $44.8 (versus the current share price of $37.3).

Today’s young investors won’t read the timeless lessons of Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written over 20 years ago, when Microsoft and Apple were first asserting their dominance. However, if we apply the same principles, enterprise software that leverages its own generative AI capabilities could be the gorillas of the future. In that spirit, we’re excited to present our free special report on profitable, fast-growing enterprise software that’s already riding the automation wave and looking to leverage generative AI next.