Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Appian Corporation (APPN) Citi's 2026 Global TMT Conference September 9, 2026 3:55 PM EDT

Company Participants

Srdjan Tanjga - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Steven Enders - Citigroup Inc., Research Division

Presentation

Steven Enders
Citigroup Inc., Research Division

All right. Well, thanks, everybody, for joining us in the last session of the day for day 2 of the Citi Global TMT Conference. I'm Steve Enders, part of the software research team here. And with us today or for the final session today, we have Serge from Appian. Serge, thank you so much for joining us.

Srdjan Tanjga
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you for having me. Great to be here.

Question-and-Answer Session

Steven Enders
Citigroup Inc., Research Division

Great. Maybe just to start off, maybe we can talk a bit about just the main use cases that Appian involves and, kind of, run through the high-level story for Appian today.

Srdjan Tanjga
Chief Financial Officer

Yes. So Appian has been in business for 27 years, and what we do is we automate complex business processes. So that's a lot of words. So I'll give you some examples. We automate fraud prevention for financial institutions, mortgage or health insurance applications for health care and financial services companies, a variety of public sector use cases. One of my favorites is we run inventory of ammunition for one of the branches of the U.S. military, so that's as mission-critical as it gets. And what these use cases have in common is a few things.

Number one is they tend to be cross-functional. They tend to be mission-critical and accuracy is very important. They frequently involve the customer in addition to the company itself and accuracy is exceptionally important. And the other question that usually comes with that is like, okay, well, what does Appian replace? And the answer is there's

34.4K Followers

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of APPN either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Joint architecture combines Synechron's InsureMESH with the Appian Platform to help carriers modernize underwriting without disrupting core systems.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Appian [Nasdaq: APPN] and Synechron announced the Open Underwriting Stack, a joint reference architecture designed to help insurance carriers accelerate underwriting with AI process automation and an open data foundation. The architecture combines Synechron's InsureMESH—a data-first operational platform—with Appian's process orchestration, data fabric, and AI agents.

Synechron is a global technology consulting firm that helps leading organizations accelerate digital transformation through innovation, expertise, and agility.

Appian and Synechron introduce Open Underwriting Stack with AI process automation to help carriers modernize underwriting without disrupting core systems. This combination enables carriers to process transactions across legacy core systems, modern SaaS applications, and external data sources without replacing the systems they already trust. The Open Underwriting Stack was demonstrated at InsurTech Insights New York with Aaron Lamp, CIO of Tokio Marine HCC PRG, sharing how connected operations are reshaping insurance.

Insurance carriers are under pressure to modernize underwriting, apply AI responsibly, and reduce operational friction. However, many remain constrained by legacy core systems, siloed data, and multi-year transformation programs. The Open Underwriting Stack gives carriers a practical way to add a governed operational AI layer around existing systems while maintaining auditability, control, and underwriter authority in decision-making.

The architecture features three connected layers working together to help carriers transact on day one: Synechron's InsureMESH platform, Appian's process automation and AI agents, and a configurable application layer via Appian Connected Underwriting.

Synechron's InsureMESH is a data-first, API-first, cloud-first layer that holds insurance transaction events in an open, universally accessible format rather than locking them inside fixed legacy sequences. The platform includes a native policy admin system or can easily integrate with an existing core system. Since the data remains open within the secured framework, the platform can call external SaaS services for discrete functions—such as rating, billing, or document printing—returning instant results at reduced cost. Always AI-ready, InsureMesh allows carriers to deploy AI at scale without the cumbersome data preparation and expensive changes legacy systems demand.

Appian Connected Underwriting and InsureMESH are fully integrated. The underwriting application and the open platform work in tandem to triage, enrich, recommend, and route workflows within auditable guardrails. Because data and AI operate continuously while transactions are in flight, underwriters retain full visibility and control over every decision. For carriers seeking a prebuilt path, Appian Connected Underwriting packages the top layer as a configurable industry application.

Traditional modernization paths often require complex system integrations and multi-month deployment cycles before completing a transaction. The Open Underwriting Stack shortens this path by replacing custom integration with prebuilt components joined at the InsureMESH layer. Carriers can continue using existing core systems—including Guidewire, Duck Creek, or a modular SaaS mix—while adding an operational AI and process orchestration layer that runs in parallel.

The result is an adaptable underwriting architecture supported by Appian's AI agents in process and the InsureMESH platform that helps carriers act on risk signals and business data in real time. Carriers can take action at any point in the transaction without disrupting the systems that already run the business.

"Underwriting has lived inside fixed cycles for a century, and the world it assesses no longer holds still," said Scott Van Valkenburgh, Senior Vice President, Global Partners and Alliances at Appian. "The Open Underwriting Stack delivers automation with AI agents in process, harnessing an open data foundation through Appian's data fabric. Process provides the AI structure and governance required for strict regulatory environments—making every decision traceable, every action auditable, every agent accountable. By combining Appian's process automation, data fabric, and AI agents with Synechron's open data foundation, the Open Underwriting Stack helps carriers modernize underwriting that keeps the underwriter in control."

"Insurance carriers have waited too long for AI to reach the transaction level," said Samir Sikri, Head of AI and New Technologies for Insurance, Synechron. "The bottleneck has never been the algorithm; it has been data trapped inside siloed architectures. InsureMESH frees the data and shifts downstream processing to parallel workflows, enabling AI to act at any point in the transaction. Together with Appian, we deliver connected underwriting with AI in process, keeping decisions auditable and underwriters in control. Carriers realize value in weeks rather than waiting years for transformation."

Contact our team to learn more about the Open Underwriting Stack for insurance carriers and brokers.

About Appian

Appian provides AI automation for mission-critical work. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We've been automating processes for more than 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no-one else. For more information, visit appian.com.

About Synechron

Synechron is a global technology consulting firm that helps leading organizations accelerate digital transformation through innovation, expertise, and agility. With 17,000 professionals across around 60 offices in over 20 countries, we combine deep industry knowledge with advanced capabilities in AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and data engineering.

Our regional teams, supported by strategic delivery centers, provide scalable, cost-efficient solutions tailored to local markets. Through our award-winning Synechron Labs accelerators and strategic partnerships with Appian, AWS, Microsoft, Databricks, Salesforce, and ServiceNow, we enable clients to innovate fast and lead with confidence. For more information on the company, please visit our website or LinkedIn community.

SOURCE Appian

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) reported second-quarter 2025 results that exceeded its guidance for cloud subscription revenue, total revenue and adjusted EBITDA, citing momentum in larger enterprise transactions, AI-related demand and growth in its federal business.

Cloud subscription revenue rose 21% year over year to $106.9 million, while total subscription revenue increased 17% to $132.7 million. Total revenue also grew 17% to $170.6 million, or 14% on a constant-currency basis. Adjusted EBITDA was positive $8.1 million, compared with the company’s prior guidance range of a $5 million to $2 million loss and a $10.5 million loss a year earlier.

Net income was $0.3 million, or breakeven per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $18.2 million, or $0.25 per share, in the second quarter of 2024. Cash equivalents and investments totaled $184.8 million at quarter-end, up from $159.9 million at the end of 2024. Cash used in operations narrowed to $1.9 million from $17.6 million a year earlier.

AI Drives Higher Pricing and Pipeline Chairman and CEO Matt Calkins said AI is contributing to Appian’s financial results, pipeline and customer value proposition. He said the company applies a 25% upcharge for AI and that most of its seven-figure software deals signed during the quarter included AI-inclusive license tiers.

“We’re getting higher prices because of AI,” Calkins said. “We’re in new deals because of AI and even new industries.”

The company highlighted an international grocery retailer that deployed Appian AI within an existing field-dispatch application. Calkins said drivers can now upload paperwork related to shipment problems, while Appian AI reconciles the information automatically rather than requiring back-office workers to manually record and correct discrepancies.

Appian also cited a global asset manager that signed a seven-figure deal to upgrade licenses and deploy AI features for client investment operations. The company said AI agents will help classify forms and extract data for account openings, closings and changes.

During the question-and-answer session, Calkins argued that Appian’s platform provides enterprise capabilities beyond what AI alone can create, including security, scalability, reliability, mobile functionality and high-availability features. CFO Serge Tanjga characterized AI as an “engine” that requires the surrounding application framework and controls supplied by the platform.

Modernization and Federal Opportunities Calkins said Appian sees application modernization as an expanding opportunity as AI lowers the cost of extracting and translating legacy applications. He said the market includes both an extraction component that is likely more services-intensive and an application-instantiation component that is likely more software-intensive.

Appian cited several customer examples tied to modernization. A Spanish bank became a new customer in the quarter after purchasing thousands of software licenses to move back-office workflows from legacy systems to Appian. The company expects the bank to run core processes 30% faster and save millions of dollars annually.

A U.S. health insurer also signed a seven-figure expansion deal to deploy Appian more broadly, beginning with Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, as part of a company initiative to consolidate technology and save $1 billion.

In the public sector, Calkins said Appian’s federal business outgrew its global business in cloud revenue, new bookings and software pipeline during the first half of 2025. A U.S. agency supporting national healthcare selected Appian as the backbone for virtual care operations in a seven-figure software deal. According to Appian, the agency expects to save $38 million annually through the deployment.

Calkins continued to describe the federal outlook as “cautiously optimistic” amid volatility related to DOGE and other factors. He said government interest in buying software directly from providers rather than through intermediaries, along with increased emphasis on efficiency, could be favorable for Appian.

Margins, Retention and Go-to-Market Efforts Appian’s non-GAAP gross margin was 75%, unchanged from a year earlier and down from 78% in the first quarter. Subscription gross margin was 87%, compared with 89% in both the prior-year period and preceding quarter. Professional services gross margin improved to 33% from 30% a year earlier.

Total operating expenses were $122.7 million, essentially flat from $123.2 million a year ago. Tanjga said the EBITDA outperformance reflected higher-than-expected revenue as well as the timing of certain expenses that are now expected in the second half. Those expenses were primarily marketing and consulting costs rather than headcount, he said.

Cloud subscription revenue retention was 111% as of June 30, down from 118% a year earlier and 112% in the prior quarter. Tanjga attributed the decline largely to the continuing effect of a small number of prior downsells in the backward-looking measure. He also said a greater portion of first-half new business came from new customers, which Appian views as evidence of its ability to win large, strategic deals with new clients.

The company’s go-to-market productivity ratio reached 3.3, its eighth consecutive sequential quarterly increase, according to Calkins. Tanjga said Appian has reduced investment in lower-productivity areas and is seeking further gains through better execution, larger deals, leadership changes and targeted investments.

Raised Full-Year Outlook For the third quarter, Appian expects cloud subscription revenue of $109 million to $111 million, representing growth of 16% to 18%, and total revenue of $172 million to $176 million, representing growth of 12% to 14%. The company forecast adjusted EBITDA of $9 million to $12 million and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.03 to $0.07.

Appian raised its full-year 2025 outlook. It now expects:

Cloud subscription revenue of $429 million to $433 million, up 17% to 18% year over year. Total revenue of $695 million to $703 million, up 13% to 14% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA of $49 million to $55 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.28 to $0.36. Tanjga said the higher outlook reflected fundamental business strength, with foreign exchange providing a marginal benefit. Appian also announced that David Crozier joined the company in July as chief marketing officer.

About Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) Appian Corporation is a global technology company specializing in low-code automation platforms designed to streamline business processes. Founded in 1999 by Matt Calkins, the company provides an integrated suite of tools that enables organizations to build enterprise applications and workflows rapidly with minimal hand coding. The platform combines process management, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and data integration into a single environment, allowing businesses to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.

The core offering, the Appian Low-Code Platform, empowers users—ranging from professional developers to business analysts—to visually model, design and deploy applications that can automate complex operations, orchestrate tasks across systems, and deliver real-time analytics.

Enterprise software stocks have slumped this year due to fears of AI disruption. AI-native applications from start-ups like Anthropic are now a threat to entrenched cloud software, and could displace them entirely, the thinking goes.

As a result, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF, which tracks major software stocks, is down 7.4% for the year, compared to a 12.7% gain for the S&P 500.

One of the software stocks that has gotten hit by that sell-off is Appian (APPN +1.50%), a maker of workflow automation software, which is down 16.9% for the year. Appian's decline comes as the company is delivering strong results even with the uncertainty from AI.

Those trends were on display again in the company's second-quarter earnings report, as it beat estimates on the top and bottom lines, and raised its full-year guidance. Despite that, Appian was trading lower on Thursday, down more than double digits at one point before clawing back most of those losses.

Let's take a look at Appian's latest quarter and see why investors may be misunderstanding the stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

Appian separates from the competition Cloud revenue, the company's focus, rose 23% to $131.7 million, driving overall revenue up 19% to $203.3 million, well ahead of the consensus of $193.4 million.

Despite broader worries about slowing growth in the sector, Appian showed it continues to thrive in the AI era, with its top-line growth accelerating.

Appian also continued to expand its margins with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) doubling from $8.1 million to $16.2 million. Adjusted earnings per share, meanwhile, improved from break-even to $0.13, which easily beat estimates at breakeven.

CEO Matt Calkins, who spoke to The Motley Fool, noted that the company had its tenth straight quarter of improving go-to-market productivity, showing that its sales-and-marketing spending continues to drive greater return. The company has also been able to do that while expanding headcount over the last year, showing it's expanding margins while investing in growth.

Appian's performance was especially notable for the contrast it portrayed with other SaaS companies, including Pegasystems, its chief rival. While Pega reported delays in signing deals, a sign that customers are growing cautious as they consider AI options, Appian is seeing its deal cycle accelerate, and its win rates have gone up as well. Calkins considers AI to be a tailwind for the company, saying, "We don't sell with AI. We sell as AI," and he added that if AI is involved in a deal, it means "a faster sale, more likely to win, bigger expected growth."

Calkins sees Appian's strength as eliminating the risk in deploying AI by adding a deterministic layer, guardrails, governance rules, and other protocols to ensure that it can be used for mission-critical work. That's why so many banks, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies work with Appian, and why it counts the federal government as its biggest customer.

Today's Change

(

1.50

%) $

0.45

Current Price

$

30.41

Is Appian a buy? In addition to beating estimates on the top and bottom lines, Appian also raised its guidance for the full year. It now sees revenue of $845 million-$853 million, up from a previous range of $819 million-$831 million, and it called for adjusted EPS of $1.04-$1.12 versus the earlier forecast of $0.94-$1.05.

A report like this would typically lift a stock, but that didn't happen as the malaise in the broader software sector seemed to counteract it. Additionally, investors may be skeptical of Appian's turnaround, as the company has only recently become profitable.

However, its AI strategy appears to be paying off and looks poised to be a winner, while peers like Pegasystems struggle to stay relevant.

It may take a few more quarters like this for the stock to start to move higher, but there's a lot of upside potential if it can deliver 20% growth and rapidly expanding margins.

Is Appian The AI Play Investors Have Completely Missed?Appian NASDAQ: APPN reported second-quarter 2025 results that exceeded its guidance for cloud subscription revenue, total revenue and adjusted EBITDA, citing momentum in larger enterprise transactions, AI-related demand and growth in its federal business.

Cloud subscription revenue rose 21% year over year to $106.9 million, while total subscription revenue increased 17% to $132.7 million. Total revenue also grew 17% to $170.6 million, or 14% on a constant-currency basis. Adjusted EBITDA was positive $8.1 million, compared with the company’s prior guidance range of a $5 million to $2 million loss and a $10.5 million loss a year earlier.

Get Appian alerts:

Beyond the Magnificent 7: Tech’s Rising StarsNet income was $0.3 million, or breakeven per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $18.2 million, or $0.25 per share, in the second quarter of 2024. Cash equivalents and investments totaled $184.8 million at quarter-end, up from $159.9 million at the end of 2024. Cash used in operations narrowed to $1.9 million from $17.6 million a year earlier.

AI Drives Higher Pricing and Pipeline Chairman and CEO Matt Calkins said AI is contributing to Appian’s financial results, pipeline and customer value proposition. He said the company applies a 25% upcharge for AI and that most of its seven-figure software deals signed during the quarter included AI-inclusive license tiers.

UiPath: Has the Bar Been Set Too Low for This AI Robotic Leader?“We’re getting higher prices because of AI,” Calkins said. “We’re in new deals because of AI and even new industries.”

The company highlighted an international grocery retailer that deployed Appian AI within an existing field-dispatch application. Calkins said drivers can now upload paperwork related to shipment problems, while Appian AI reconciles the information automatically rather than requiring back-office workers to manually record and correct discrepancies.

Appian also cited a global asset manager that signed a seven-figure deal to upgrade licenses and deploy AI features for client investment operations. The company said AI agents will help classify forms and extract data for account openings, closings and changes.

During the question-and-answer session, Calkins argued that Appian’s platform provides enterprise capabilities beyond what AI alone can create, including security, scalability, reliability, mobile functionality and high-availability features. CFO Serge Tanjga characterized AI as an “engine” that requires the surrounding application framework and controls supplied by the platform.

Modernization and Federal Opportunities Calkins said Appian sees application modernization as an expanding opportunity as AI lowers the cost of extracting and translating legacy applications. He said the market includes both an extraction component that is likely more services-intensive and an application-instantiation component that is likely more software-intensive.

Appian cited several customer examples tied to modernization. A Spanish bank became a new customer in the quarter after purchasing thousands of software licenses to move back-office workflows from legacy systems to Appian. The company expects the bank to run core processes 30% faster and save millions of dollars annually.

A U.S. health insurer also signed a seven-figure expansion deal to deploy Appian more broadly, beginning with Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, as part of a company initiative to consolidate technology and save $1 billion.

In the public sector, Calkins said Appian’s federal business outgrew its global business in cloud revenue, new bookings and software pipeline during the first half of 2025. A U.S. agency supporting national healthcare selected Appian as the backbone for virtual care operations in a seven-figure software deal. According to Appian, the agency expects to save $38 million annually through the deployment.

Calkins continued to describe the federal outlook as “cautiously optimistic” amid volatility related to DOGE and other factors. He said government interest in buying software directly from providers rather than through intermediaries, along with increased emphasis on efficiency, could be favorable for Appian.

Margins, Retention and Go-to-Market Efforts Appian’s non-GAAP gross margin was 75%, unchanged from a year earlier and down from 78% in the first quarter. Subscription gross margin was 87%, compared with 89% in both the prior-year period and preceding quarter. Professional services gross margin improved to 33% from 30% a year earlier.

Total operating expenses were $122.7 million, essentially flat from $123.2 million a year ago. Tanjga said the EBITDA outperformance reflected higher-than-expected revenue as well as the timing of certain expenses that are now expected in the second half. Those expenses were primarily marketing and consulting costs rather than headcount, he said.

Cloud subscription revenue retention was 111% as of June 30, down from 118% a year earlier and 112% in the prior quarter. Tanjga attributed the decline largely to the continuing effect of a small number of prior downsells in the backward-looking measure. He also said a greater portion of first-half new business came from new customers, which Appian views as evidence of its ability to win large, strategic deals with new clients.

The company’s go-to-market productivity ratio reached 3.3, its eighth consecutive sequential quarterly increase, according to Calkins. Tanjga said Appian has reduced investment in lower-productivity areas and is seeking further gains through better execution, larger deals, leadership changes and targeted investments.

Raised Full-Year Outlook For the third quarter, Appian expects cloud subscription revenue of $109 million to $111 million, representing growth of 16% to 18%, and total revenue of $172 million to $176 million, representing growth of 12% to 14%. The company forecast adjusted EBITDA of $9 million to $12 million and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.03 to $0.07.

Appian raised its full-year 2025 outlook. It now expects:

Cloud subscription revenue of $429 million to $433 million, up 17% to 18% year over year. Total revenue of $695 million to $703 million, up 13% to 14% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA of $49 million to $55 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.28 to $0.36. Tanjga said the higher outlook reflected fundamental business strength, with foreign exchange providing a marginal benefit. Appian also announced that David Crozier joined the company in July as chief marketing officer.

About Appian (NASDAQ:APPN)Appian Corporation is a global technology company specializing in low-code automation platforms designed to streamline business processes. Founded in 1999 by Matt Calkins, the company provides an integrated suite of tools that enables organizations to build enterprise applications and workflows rapidly with minimal hand coding. The platform combines process management, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and data integration into a single environment, allowing businesses to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.

The core offering, the Appian Low-Code Platform, empowers users—ranging from professional developers to business analysts—to visually model, design and deploy applications that can automate complex operations, orchestrate tasks across systems, and deliver real-time analytics.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Should You Invest $1,000 in Appian Right Now?Before you consider Appian, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Appian wasn't on the list.

While Appian currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

The AI boom is creating opportunities across semiconductors, cloud computing, enterprise software, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and automation.

Inside this report, you’ll find 10 companies positioned to benefit as artificial intelligence moves from hype to real-world deployment and becomes a core growth driver for corporate America.

Get This Free Report

Cloud subscriptions revenue increased 23% year-over-year to $131.7 million August 06, 2026 07:05 ET  | Source: Appian Corporation

MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Appian (Nasdaq: APPN) today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026.

Second Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: Cloud subscriptions revenue was $131.7 million, up 23% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Total subscriptions revenue increased 19% year-over-year to $157.7 million. Professional services revenue was $45.6 million, an increase of 20% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Total revenue was $203.3 million, up 19% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Cloud net annualized recurring revenue (“ARR”) expansion was 115% as of June 30, 2026.Operating loss and non-GAAP operating income: GAAP operating loss was $(5.4) million, compared to GAAP operating loss of $(11.0) million for the second quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP operating income was $13.6 million, compared to non-GAAP operating income of $5.6 million for the second quarter of 2025.Net loss and non-GAAP net income: GAAP net loss was $(11.8) million, compared to $(0.3) million for the second quarter of 2025. GAAP net loss per share was $(0.16) for the second quarter of 2026, compared to breakeven for the second quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP net income was $9.2 million, compared to $0.3 million for the second quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP net income per share was $0.13, compared to breakeven for the second quarter of 2025.Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA was $16.2 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $8.1 million for the second quarter of 2025.Cash flows: Net cash provided by operating activities was $12.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2026 compared to $(1.9) million of net cash used by operating activities for the same period in 2025. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures has been provided in the tables following the financial statements in this press release. An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Financial Outlook:

As of August 6, 2026, guidance for 2026 is as follows:

Third Quarter 2026 Guidance: Cloud subscriptions revenue is expected to be between $133.0 million and $135.0 million, representing year-over-year growth of 17% to 19%.Total revenue is expected to be between $214.0 million and $218.0 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 14% to 17%.Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $30.0 million and $33.0 million.Non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be between $0.31 and $0.35, assuming weighted average common shares outstanding of 72.6 million. Full Year 2026 Guidance: Cloud subscriptions revenue is expected to be between $525.0 million and $529.0 million, representing year-over-year growth of 20% to 21%.Total revenue is expected to be between $845.0 million and $853.0 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 16% to 17%.Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $104.0 million and $110.0 million.Non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be between $1.04 and $1.12, assuming weighted average common shares outstanding of 73.2 million. Conference Call Details:

Appian will host a conference call today, August 6, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss Appian's financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026 and business outlook.

To access the call, navigate to the following link(1). Once registered, participants can dial in using their phone with a dial in and PIN, or they can choose the Call Me option for instant dial to their phone. The live webcast of the conference call can also be accessed on the Investor Relations page of our website at https://investors.appian.com.

About Appian

Appian provides process automation technology. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We’ve been automating processes for 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, Appian provides investors with certain non-GAAP financial performance measures. Appian uses these non-GAAP financial performance measures for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Appian’s management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding Appian’s performance by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of our recurring core business operating results. Appian believes both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing Appian’s performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to historical performance as well as comparisons to competitors’ operating results. Appian believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to measures used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and (2) they are used by institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the health of Appian’s business.

The non-GAAP financial performance measures include the following: non-GAAP subscriptions cost of revenue, non-GAAP professional services cost of revenue, non-GAAP total cost of revenue, non-GAAP sales and marketing expense, non-GAAP research and development expense, non-GAAP general and administrative expense, non-GAAP total operating expense, non-GAAP non-operating (expense) income, non-GAAP income tax expense, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP net income per share, basic and diluted. These non-GAAP financial performance measures exclude the effect of stock-based compensation expense, unrealized foreign exchange rate gains and losses, certain non-ordinary litigation-related expenses consisting of legal and other professional fees associated with the Pegasystems cases (net of insurance reimbursements), or Litigation Expense, amortization of the judgment preservation insurance policy, or JPI Amortization, and lease impairments and lease-related charges associated with actions taken to reduce the footprint of our leased office spaces, or Lease Impairment and Lease-Related Charges. While some of these items may be recurring in nature and should not be disregarded in the evaluation of our earnings performance, it is useful to exclude such items when analyzing current results and trends compared to other periods as these items can vary significantly from period to period depending on specific underlying transactions or events that may occur. Therefore, while we may incur or recognize these types of expenses in the future, we believe removing these items for purposes of calculating our non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with a more focused presentation of our ongoing operating performance.

Appian also discusses adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial performance measure it believes offers a useful view of the overall operation of its businesses. Appian defines adjusted EBITDA as net loss before (1) other expense (income), net, (2) interest expense, (3) income tax expense, (4) depreciation expense and amortization of intangible assets, (5) stock-based compensation expense, (6) Litigation Expense, (7) JPI Amortization, and (8) Lease Impairment and Lease-Related Charges. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to adjusted EBITDA is net loss. Users should consider the limitations of using adjusted EBITDA, including the fact this measure does not provide a complete depiction of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to purport to be an alternative to net loss as a measure of operating performance or to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity.

The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, and Appian’s non-GAAP measures may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, see the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures at the end of this press release.

Appian provides guidance ranges for non-GAAP net income per share and adjusted EBITDA; however, we are not able to reconcile these amounts to their comparable GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts because certain information necessary to calculate such measures on a GAAP basis is unavailable, subject to high variability, dependent on future events outside of our control, and cannot be predicted. In addition, Appian believes such reconciliations could imply a degree of precision that might be confusing or misleading to investors. The actual effect of the reconciling items that Appian may exclude from these non-GAAP expense numbers, when determined, may be significant to the calculation of the comparable GAAP measures.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding Appian’s future financial and business performance for the third quarter and full year 2026, future investment by Appian in its go-to-market initiatives, increased demand for the Appian Platform, market opportunity and plans and objectives for future operations, including Appian’s ability to drive continued subscriptions revenue and total revenue growth, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “plan,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Appian has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that Appian believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties associated with Appian’s market opportunity and the expansion of its core software markets in general, the opportunity and disruptive impact of AI, the effects of increased competition, as well as innovations by new and existing competitors in its market, Appian’s ability to effectively manage or sustain its growth and to maintain profitability, Appian’s ability to maintain, or strengthen awareness of, its brand, risks and uncertainties associated with the composition and concentration of Appian’s customer base and their demand for its platform and satisfaction with the services provided by Appian, Appian’s ability to operate in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, Appian’s strategic relationships with third parties, and additional risks and uncertainties set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of Appian’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, Appian operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for Appian’s management to predict all risks, nor can Appian assess the impact of all factors on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements Appian may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, Appian cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, achievements, or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will occur. Appian is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.

Investor Contact
[email protected]

Media Contact
[email protected]

APPIAN CORPORATIONCONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS(in thousands, except par value and share data)  As of June 30, 2026 December 31, 2025 (unaudited)  Assets   Current assets   Cash and cash equivalents$121,111  $135,810 Short-term investments and marketable securities 46,755   51,415 Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $3,416 and $3,362, respectively 171,162   255,063 Deferred commissions, current 38,026   35,166 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 32,952   41,970 Total current assets 410,006   519,424 Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $42,933 and $40,747, respectively 30,667   32,087 Goodwill 27,973   28,811 Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization of $7,710 and $7,301, respectively 588   1,246 Right-of-use assets for operating leases 30,437   28,075 Deferred commissions, net of current portion 67,376   65,199 Deferred tax assets 4,857   4,850 Other assets 13,809   11,703 Total assets$585,713  $691,395 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit   Current liabilities   Accounts payable$8,077  $6,655 Accrued expenses 21,662   18,483 Accrued compensation and related benefits 43,035   61,781 Deferred revenue 314,263   341,281 Debt 9,598   9,598 Operating lease liabilities 14,171   13,181 Other current liabilities 1,012   1,128 Total current liabilities 411,818   452,107 Long-term debt 226,429   231,228 Non-current operating lease liabilities 45,128   45,693 Deferred revenue, non-current 7,208   8,962 Other non-current liabilities 311   398 Total liabilities 690,894   738,388 Stockholders’ deficit   Class A common stock—par value $0.0001; 500,000,000 shares authorized as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025 and 43,504,355 and 43,408,828 shares issued as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively 4   4 Class B common stock—par value $0.0001; 100,000,000 shares authorized as June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025 and 31,087,385 and 31,088,085 shares issued as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively 3   3 Treasury stock at cost, 2,795,084 and 542,288 shares as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively (70,391)  (16,935)Additional paid-in capital 623,090   617,318 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (33,624)  (36,462)Accumulated deficit (624,263)  (610,921)Total stockholders’ deficit (105,181)  (46,993)Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit$585,713  $691,395          APPIAN CORPORATIONCONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)  Three Months Ended June 30, Six months ended June 30,  2026   2025   2026   2025 Revenue       Subscriptions$157,682  $132,657  $317,993  $267,009 Professional services 45,574   37,983   87,443   70,057 Total revenue 203,256   170,640   405,436   337,066 Cost of revenue       Subscriptions 25,409   20,707   48,313   39,228 Professional services 33,104   28,247   64,611   53,766 Total cost of revenue 58,513   48,954   112,924   92,994 Gross profit 144,743   121,686   292,512   244,072 Operating expenses       Sales and marketing 70,113   62,157   134,732   118,467 Research and development 47,305   42,655   93,629   84,485 General and administrative 32,765   27,858   66,435   52,938 Total operating expenses 150,183   132,670   294,796   255,890 Operating loss (5,440)  (10,984)  (2,284)  (11,818)Other non-operating expense (income)       Other expense (income), net 827   (17,564)  743   (23,280)Interest expense 3,780   5,319   7,952   10,637 Total other non-operating expense (income) 4,607   (12,245)  8,695   (12,643)(Loss) income before income taxes (10,047)  1,261   (10,979)  825 Income tax expense 1,770   1,573   2,363   2,314 Net loss$(11,817) $(312) $(13,342) $(1,489)Net loss per Class A and Class B share:       Basic and diluted$(0.16) $(0.00) $(0.18) $(0.02)Weighted average common shares outstanding:       Basic and diluted 72,896   74,202   73,348   74,148                  APPIAN CORPORATIONCONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS(unaudited, in thousands)  Six Months Ended June 30,  2026   2025 Cash flows from operating activities   Net loss$(13,342) $(1,489)Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities   Stock-based compensation 22,449   20,732 Depreciation expense and amortization of intangible assets 4,780   4,970 Bad debt expense 634   550 Amortization of debt issuance costs 300   300 Benefit for deferred income taxes (68)  (689)Foreign currency transaction losses (gains), net 3,372   (20,659)Changes in assets and liabilities   Accounts receivable 82,946   49,720 Prepaid expenses and other assets 6,991   10,174 Deferred commissions (5,037)  3,228 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 4,298   7,559 Accrued compensation and related benefits (17,348)  (3,811)Other current and non-current liabilities (538)  (277)Deferred revenue (26,590)  (25,611)Operating lease assets and liabilities, net (1,938)  (1,671)Net cash provided by operating activities 60,909   43,026 Cash flows from investing activities   Proceeds from maturities of investments 49,079   27,985 Purchases of investments (44,866)  (59,281)Purchases of property and equipment (2,491)  (1,797)Net cash provided by (used by) investing activities 1,722   (33,093)Cash flows from financing activities   Debt repayments (5,000)  (5,000)Repurchases of common stock (65,736)  (10,000)Payments for employee taxes related to the net share settlement of equity awards (6,395)  (4,469)Proceeds from exercise of common stock options 876   504 Net cash used by financing activities (76,255)  (18,965)Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (1,075)  2,687 Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (14,699)  (6,345)Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 135,810   118,552 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period$121,111  $112,207     Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:   Cash paid for interest$7,338  $10,023 Cash paid for income taxes$2,542  $1,997 Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing information:   Accrued capital expenditures$408  $54 Operating lease liabilities arising from obtaining right-of-use assets$5,370  $—          APPIAN CORPORATIONRECONCILIATION OF GAAP MEASURES TO NON-GAAP MEASURES(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)  GAAP
Measure Stock-Based
Compensation Litigation
Expense JPI
Amortization Lease
Impairment
and Lease-
Related
Charges Unrealized
Foreign
Exchange Rate
Gains and
Losses Non-GAAP
MeasureThree Months Ended June 30, 2026Subscriptions cost of revenue$25,409  $(497) $—  $—  $—  $—  $24,912 Professional services cost of revenue 33,104   (1,520)  —   —   —   —   31,584 Total cost of revenue 58,513   (2,017)  —   —   —   —   56,496 Sales and marketing expense 70,113   (1,963)  —   —   —   —   68,150 Research and development expense 47,305   (3,382)  —   —   —   —   43,923 General and administrative expense 32,765   (3,198)  (6,293)  (1,957)  (279)  —   21,038 Total operating expense 150,183   (8,543)  (6,293)  (1,957)  (279)  —   133,111 Operating (loss) income (5,440)  10,560   6,293   1,957   279   —   13,649 Non-operating expense (income) 827   —   —   —   —   (2,523)  (1,696)Income tax impact of above items 1,770   504   —   —   —   95   2,369 Net (loss) income (11,817)  10,056   6,293   1,957   279   2,428   9,196 Net (loss) income per share, basic$(0.16) $0.14  $0.09  $0.03  $—  $0.03  $0.13 Net (loss) income per share, diluted(a)$(0.16) $0.14  $0.09  $0.03  $—  $0.03  $0.13               Three Months Ended June 30, 2025      Subscriptions cost of revenue$20,707  $(418) $—  $—  $—  $—  $20,289 Professional services cost of revenue 28,247   (1,400)  —   —   —   —   26,847 Total cost of revenue 48,954   (1,818)  —   —   —   —   47,136 Sales and marketing expense 62,157   (2,087)  —   —   —   —   60,070 Research and development expense 42,655   (3,357)  —   —   —   —   39,298 General and administrative expense 27,858   (3,431)  (2,482)  (3,118)  (297)  —   18,530 Total operating expense 132,670   (8,875)  (2,482)  (3,118)  (297)  —   117,898 Operating (loss) income (10,984)  10,693   2,482   3,118   297   —   5,606 Non-operating (income) expense (17,564)  —   —   —   —   16,754   (810)Income tax impact of above items 1,573   295   —   —   —   (1,059)  809 Net (loss) income (312)  10,398   2,482   3,118   297   (15,695)  288 Net (loss) income per share, basic$(0.00) $0.14  $0.03  $0.04  $—  $(0.21) $0.00 Net (loss) income per share, diluted(a)$(0.00) $0.14  $0.03  $0.04  $—  $(0.21) $0.00  (a) Accounts for the impact of 0.4 million shares of dilutive securities.

 GAAP
Measure Stock-Based
Compensation Litigation
Expense JPI
Amortization Lease
Impairment
and Lease-
Related
Charges Unrealized
Foreign
Exchange Rate
Gains and
Losses Non-GAAP
MeasureSix months ended June 30, 2026Subscriptions cost of revenue$48,313  $(1,056) $—  $—  $—  $—  $47,257 Professional services cost of revenue 64,611   (3,158)  —   —   —   —   61,453 Total cost of revenue 112,924   (4,214)  —   —   —   —   108,710 Sales and marketing expense 134,732   (4,366)  —   —   —   —   130,366 Research and development expense 93,629   (7,117)  —   —   —   —   86,512 General and administrative expense 66,435   (6,752)  (13,241)  (4,012)  (581)  —   41,849 Total operating expense 294,796   (18,235)  (13,241)  (4,012)  (581)  —   258,727 Operating (loss) income (2,284)  22,449   13,241   4,012   581   —   37,999 Non-operating expense (income) 743   —   —   —   —   (3,371)  (2,628)Income tax impact of above items 2,363   1,011   —   —   —   294   3,668 Net (loss) income (13,342)  21,438   13,241   4,012   581   3,077   29,007 Net (loss) income per share, basic(c)$(0.18) $0.29  $0.18  $0.05  $0.01  $0.04  $0.40 Net (loss) income per share, diluted(a)$(0.18) $0.29  $0.18  $0.05  $0.01  $0.04  $0.39               Six months ended June 30, 2025      Subscriptions cost of revenue$39,228  $(916) $—  $—  $—  $—  $38,312 Professional services cost of revenue 53,766   (2,856)  —   —   —   —   50,910 Total cost of revenue 92,994   (3,772)  —   —   —   —   89,222 Sales and marketing expense 118,467   (4,333)  —   —   —   —   114,134 Research and development expense 84,485   (6,371)  —   —   —   —   78,114 General and administrative expense 52,938   (6,256)  (4,194)  (6,202)  (609)  —   35,677 Total operating expense 255,890   (16,960)  (4,194)  (6,202)  (609)  —   227,925 Operating (loss) income (11,818)  20,732   4,194   6,202   609   —   19,919 Non-operating (income) expense (23,280)  —   —   —   —   20,770   (2,510)Income tax impact of above items 2,314   750   —   —   —   (1,326)  1,738 Net (loss) income (1,489)  19,982   4,194   6,202   609   (19,444)  10,054 Net (loss) income per share, basic$(0.02) $0.27  $0.06  $0.08  $0.01  $(0.26) $0.14 Net (loss) income per share, diluted(b,c)$(0.02) $0.27  $0.06  $0.08  $0.01  $(0.26) $0.13  (a) Accounts for the impact of 0.5 million shares of dilutive securities.
(b) Accounts for the impact of 0.4 million shares of dilutive securities.
(c) Per share amounts do not foot due to rounding.

 Three months ended June 30, Six months ended June 30,  2026   2025   2026   2025 Reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA:       GAAP net loss$(11,817) $(312) $(13,342) $(1,489)Other expense (income), net 827   (17,564)  743   (23,280)Interest expense 3,780   5,319   7,952   10,637 Income tax expense 1,770   1,573   2,363   2,314 Depreciation expense and amortization of intangible assets 2,507   2,524   4,780   4,970 Stock-based compensation expense 10,560   10,693   22,449   20,732 Litigation Expense 6,293   2,482   13,241   4,194 JPI Amortization 1,957   3,118   4,012   6,202 Lease Impairment and Lease-Related Charges 279   297   581   609 Adjusted EBITDA$16,156  $8,130  $42,779  $24,889                  _________________________
1 https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI28813a37ca7a432497f0bb1cdcef1e12

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 26th, 2026

Appian Corporation (NASDAQ:APPN – Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $21.96, but opened at $22.76. Appian shares last traded at $22.61, with a volume of 32,691 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes APPN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Appian in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Appian from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Appian from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Appian from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Appian from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Appian presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.00.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Appian

Appian Trading Up 8.2% The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,377.38 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.36 and a 200-day moving average of $24.60.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $202.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.56 million. Appian had a negative return on equity of 26.12% and a net margin of 0.12%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. Appian has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.940-1.050 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.020-0.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Appian Corporation will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity In related news, CEO Matthew W. Calkins sold 50,000 shares of Appian stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total value of $1,236,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,719,144 shares in the company, valued at $42,497,239.68. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CRO Mark Dorsey bought 5,227 shares of Appian stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.13 per share, with a total value of $99,992.51. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive directly owned 13,993 shares in the company, valued at $267,686.09. This trade represents a 59.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 42.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Appian Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Appian during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Appian by 693.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Appian in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Appian in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Appian by 175.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.70% of the company’s stock.

About Appian (Get Free Report)

Appian Corporation is a global technology company specializing in low-code automation platforms designed to streamline business processes. Founded in 1999 by Matt Calkins, the company provides an integrated suite of tools that enables organizations to build enterprise applications and workflows rapidly with minimal hand coding. The platform combines process management, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and data integration into a single environment, allowing businesses to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.

The core offering, the Appian Low-Code Platform, empowers users—ranging from professional developers to business analysts—to visually model, design and deploy applications that can automate complex operations, orchestrate tasks across systems, and deliver real-time analytics.

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Appian Telecom Earnings Reveal a Sector That Finally Looks Healthier Defense Earnings Show Readiness Now and Modernization Ahead Why Palantir Investors Aren’t Panicking While the Rest of AI Sells Off MarketBeat Week in Review – 07/20- 07/24 Receive News & Ratings for Appian Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Appian and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

« PREVIOUS HEADLINEZevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

NEXT HEADLINE »Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Appian stands out as a business process re-engineering software company benefiting from long-standing AI and automation tailwinds. Despite a ~30% YTD decline, APPN's modest valuation and recent Q1 beat-and-raise reinforce its 'growth at a reasonable price' thesis. Q1 results highlighted improved net expansion rates and sales productivity, supporting confidence in APPN's operational momentum.

Matthew W. Calkins, CEO and founder of Appian (APPN 2.83%), reported an open-market sale of 50,000 shares for a total of approximately $1.21 million on June 8, 2026, according to a SEC Form 4 filing.

Transaction summaryMetricValueShares sold (direct)50,000Transaction value$1.2 millionPost-transaction shares (direct)1,769,144Post-transaction value (direct ownership)~$43.2 millionTransaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average reported price ($24.13); post-transaction value based on June 8, 2026 market close ($24.43).

Key questionsHow material is this sale relative to Calkins's overall direct ownership?
This transaction accounted for 2.75% of his direct holdings, with 1,769,144 shares remaining under his direct control post-sale.Did the transaction impact any indirect or derivative holdings?
No indirect entities or derivative securities were involved; the entire disposition was executed from Calkins's direct ownership account.How does this sale compare to Calkins's historical activity?
Over the past two years, this is the only open-market sale reported, with prior filings limited to administrative events and no other open-market disposals in this period.Company overviewMetricValueRevenue (TTM)$762.69 millionNet income (TTM)$0.89 millionEmployees2,033Company snapshotAppian provides a low-code automation platform that enables rapid software development, automating workflows, forms, data structures, reports, and user interfaces; it also offers professional services and customer support.The company generates revenue through software subscriptions, platform licensing, and associated consulting and support services.Key customers include organizations in financial services, government, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, and transportation sectors.Appian is a technology company specializing in low-code software platforms that streamline complex application development for enterprise clients. With a global presence and a diverse client base, Appian leverages automation to deliver efficiency and scalability for organizations across multiple industries.

What this transaction means for investorsThe June 8 sale of Appian stock by company CEO and founder Matthew Calkins came at a time when shares had fallen significantly from their 52-week high of $46.06 reached in 2025. Even so, his disposition is not a red flag for investors.

Calkins’ sale was a non-discretionary transaction, executed automatically as part of a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which the CEO adopted in March of 2026. Such plans are often implemented by insiders to avoid accusations of trading based on insider information.

Moreover, Calkins retained 1.8 million shares after the disposition. This indicates he maintains a sizable equity stake in the company he founded.

Appian stock is down due to investor concerns that artificial intelligence will take business away. In addition, while the company reported a strong 21% year-over-year increase in first-quarter revenue to $202.2 million, it forecasted only 13% to 14% growth in 2026 compared to 2025. This disappointed Wall Street and contributed to fears of AI’s impact on Appian’s business.

Robert Izquierdo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Appian. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Like much of the software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector, Appian (APPN +1.65%) has had a rough year. Shares of the business process automation company are down 33% year-to-date, falling in line with the rest of the software sector.

The market seems to believe it's vulnerable to competition from AI platforms like Anthropic as the stock fell sharply in late January on a broader sell-off over AI fears, and again in April after Anthropic announced its Mythos AI model, which it said was too powerful to release to the public.

Despite those concerns, Appian hasn't exhibited any weakness in its business. In fact, the company, which is leveraging AI as part of its cloud subscription platform, just reported one of its best quarters in years.

Image source: Getty Images.

Appian's Q1 Appian's total revenue rose 21% to $202.2 million, well ahead of the consensus at $191.8 million. Cloud subscription revenue was up 25% to $124.5 million.

The company's earlier cost-cutting and improved go-to-market efficiency also continued to pay off as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose from $16.8 million to $26.6 million. It also reported a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) operating profit of $3.2 million. Adjusted earnings per share more than doubled from $0.13 to $0.27, easily beating the consensus at $0.18.

Appian AI is taking off and accelerating the business's growth, as nearly 40% of its customers have purchased AI-inclusive license tiers. Appian is landing and expanding deals with Fortune 500 companies and government agencies that need error-free AI for mission-critical applications.

CEO Matt Calkins also noted that, despite the popularity of vibe-coding, using AI alone to create mission-critical applications is not a viable strategy, as those applications need to be updated and supported through tools such as those that Appian provides.

Appian's solid first-quarter results led it to raise its full-year guidance, calling for revenue of $819 million-$831 million, up 13%-14%, and better than its earlier forecast of $801 million-$817 million. Given the first-quarter growth rate, that forecast is likely conservative.

On the bottom line, it now expects adjusted earnings per share of $0.94-$1.05, up from an earlier forecast of $0.82-$0.96. At the updated guidance, Appian now expects EPS to increase by roughly 60%, showing how far the business has come. Based on that guidance, the stock now trades at a forward P/E of just 23.

Today's Change

(

1.65

%) $

0.39

Current Price

$

24.03

Can Appian break through the software malaise? The biggest challenge for Appian as a stock may be overcoming the negative investor sentiment toward the software sector. As a small-cap stock, it may be particularly hard for the company to change investors' minds on its own.

In an interview with the Motley Fool, CEO Matt Calkins discussed this issue, saying that there's a lot of emotion in the market, adding, "Perception comes with time, and right now, there's a lot of emotion, but not a lot of perception."

Indeed, the pressure from AI start-ups is new, but at this point, Appian's valuation seems like it has compressed enough that that risk is baked in. The company also increased its share repurchase authorization from $50 million to $100 million and plans to execute that buyback this year, which could lower shares outstanding by 5%.

Before the earnings report, Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to equal weight, noting that the environment for seat-based software models is challenged, and said Appian would need to deliver a sustained period of sales acceleration to overcome that headwind.

That seems to summarize the challenge facing both Appian and its software peers, but it may turn out to be more sentiment-driven, as CEO Calkins alluded to. If Appian can keep up its recent momentum and deliver more quarters like this one, the stock should eventually respond.

For the quarter ended March 2026, Appian (APPN - Free Report) reported revenue of $202.18 million, up 21.5% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $0.27, compared to $0.13 in the year-ago quarter.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of +5.79% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $191.12 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $0.19, the EPS surprise was +45.95%.

While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Appian performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

Subscriptions gross margin: 85.7% versus the two-analyst average estimate of 87.2%.Professional services gross margin: 24.7% compared to the 26.9% average estimate based on two analysts.Revenue- Professional services: $41.87 million versus $36.85 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +30.5% change.Revenue- Subscriptions: $160.31 million versus $154.27 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +19.3% change.View all Key Company Metrics for Appian here>>>

Shares of Appian have returned +11.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +11% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

Key Takeaways APPN stock lost 19.2% post-Q1 as investors fixated on softer-than-expected Q2 outlook.APPN Q1: revenue $202.2M ( 21%); cloud subs $124.5M ( 25%); net ARR expansion 115%.APPN Q2 guide: revenue $191-$195M, adj. EBITDA $5-$8M; buyback authorization raised to $100M. Appian Corporation (APPN - Free Report) shares have come under pressure following the company’s first-quarter 2026 results released on May 7. APPN stock has plunged 19.2% since the earnings release, underperforming the Zacks Internet - Software industry’s 1.3% decline and lagging the S&P 500 Index and the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector, both of which gained 0.3% during the same period.

APPN Price Performance (Post Q1 Release)

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Appian remains one of the leading players in low-code automation and enterprise process orchestration. The company is also increasingly positioning itself as a serious enterprise AI platform focused on regulated and mission-critical workflows. With improving margins and strong cloud subscription growth, could the recent decline prove attractive for investors willing to look beyond near-term volatility?

Weak Q2 Outlook Triggered the Selloff of APPN StockDespite the strong quarter, investors reacted negatively to Appian’s second-quarter guidance.
For the second quarter of 2026, Appian expects total revenues between $191 million and $195 million, implying year-over-year growth of 12-14%. The company also expects adjusted EBITDA between $5 million and $8 million, far below the first quarter’s level. Non-GAAP earnings per share are projected to be between a loss of 2 cents and a profit of 2 cents.

The weaker profitability outlook overshadowed the strong first-quarter 2026 performance. Management attributed part of the sequential margin pressure to seasonal marketing and event expenses in the second quarter.

Still, the guidance raised concerns about slowing momentum after Appian’s strong start to 2026. Investors also remain cautious about the broader software spending environment, especially for enterprise automation projects that can face longer sales cycles during uncertain macroeconomic conditions.

Another challenge is competition. The low-code and AI automation market remains highly competitive, with both large enterprise software vendors and niche automation specialists investing aggressively in AI capabilities. Appian must continue innovating to defend its market position and sustain growth. The company also remains GAAP unprofitable. While margins are improving, Appian continues to carry a sizable accumulated deficit and more than $238 million in total debt.

Strong Cloud Momentum Continues for APPN StockAppian delivered a strong first quarter. Total revenue increased 21% year over year to $202.2 million, while cloud subscriptions revenue rose 25% to $124.5 million. Total subscriptions revenue climbed 19% to $160.3 million.

The company’s AI-focused offerings continued to gain traction. Management noted that nearly 40% of customers have now adopted Appian’s AI-inclusive license tiers. Cloud net ARR expansion improved to 115% in the quarter from 112% a year ago, reflecting healthy customer expansion activity and successful upselling efforts.

Management highlighted strong momentum in Appian’s DocCenter product, which uses AI for enterprise document processing. According to the company, customers processed more document pages in the first quarter of 2026 than they did during all of 2025 combined.

The company also pointed to growing demand for AI-driven workflow automation in highly regulated industries such as insurance, healthcare, telecom and energy. Several large customers expanded deployments during the quarter, including a global oil and gas company that signed a seven-figure deal to automate invoice processing and procurement workflows using Appian’s AI-powered platform.

Another encouraging sign is the company’s growing traction in legacy modernization. Enterprises are increasingly looking to replace outdated software systems with modern AI-enabled platforms, and Appian believes this trend could become a major long-term growth driver. Management noted that a large European automotive manufacturer selected Appian as its core modernization platform and signed a seven-figure software deal during the quarter.

Margins and Cash Flow Are Moving Higher for APPN StockProfitability trends were also encouraging in the quarter. Appian reported adjusted EBITDA of $26.6 million, up significantly from $16.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Non-GAAP net income increased to $19.8 million from $9.8 million a year ago.

The company’s non-GAAP gross margin remained healthy at 74%, while subscription gross margin stood at 86%. Professional services gross margin improved to 29% from 25% a year ago, reflecting better utilization and operating leverage.

Cash generation also remained strong. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $48.8 million during the first quarter compared with $45 million in the prior-year period. Cash, cash equivalents and investments increased to roughly $206 million as of March 31, 2026. Importantly, Appian expanded its share repurchase authorization from $50 million to $100 million, signaling confidence in its long-term outlook. The company already repurchased $21.8 million worth of stock during the quarter.

Management also emphasized that Appian’s go-to-market efficiency metric improved for the 11th straight quarter. The company appears to be balancing growth and profitability more effectively than in previous years.

Appian Faces Strong Competition in Enterprise AutomationThe enterprise automation and low-code market remains crowded, with several well-funded players competing aggressively for large enterprise customers.

Pegasystems Inc. (PEGA - Free Report) remains one of Appian’s biggest competitors in process automation and case management. Pegasystems has a strong presence in financial services and customer engagement workflows. Pegasystems continues investing heavily in AI-powered automation capabilities, making it a formidable rival in large enterprise accounts. Pegasystems also benefits from deep relationships with government and regulated-industry customers, an area where Appian is trying to expand further.

ServiceNow Inc. (NOW - Free Report) is another major competitor. ServiceNow has aggressively expanded beyond IT workflows into broader enterprise automation and AI-driven operations. ServiceNow’s large installed customer base and growing generative AI offerings make it one of the strongest competitive threats in workflow orchestration and enterprise productivity software. ServiceNow’s scale and ecosystem advantages remain difficult for smaller vendors to match.

Salesforce Inc. (CRM - Free Report) also competes with Appian through its low-code and AI automation initiatives. Salesforce continues to integrate AI capabilities across its enterprise software stack and expand automation tools for customer workflows. Salesforce benefits from its massive enterprise reach, while its AI investments continue attracting customers looking for unified workflow and customer engagement solutions.

Even with these competitive pressures, Appian continues to differentiate itself through process-centric AI automation, high-security deployments and strong workflow orchestration capabilities for regulated industries.

APPN Stock Looks Cheap Relative to Growth PotentialOne of the more attractive aspects of the current setup is valuation. APPN stock currently trades at 1.65X forward 12-month sales, well below the Zacks Internet - Software industry average of 3.68X.

APPN Valuation - P/E F12M

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Considering the company is expected to grow revenues 13.3% in 2026 and another 10.6% in 2027, the valuation appears relatively reasonable.

APPN Revenue Estimates

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Earnings expectations are also moving in the right direction. Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS increased to 94 cents from 89 cents. The estimate implies 54.1% year-over-year earnings growth. Meanwhile, 2027 EPS is projected to be $1.19, suggesting another 26.6% increase.

APPN EPS Estimate

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company also raised its full-year guidance following the strong first quarter. Appian now expects 2026 total revenues between $819 million and $831 million and adjusted EBITDA between $97 million and $105 million.

Is APPN Stock a Buy After the Pullback?Appian’s post-earnings selloff appears driven more by near-term guidance concerns than deterioration in the company’s broader business fundamentals.

The company continues delivering strong cloud subscription growth, improving profitability and expanding enterprise AI adoption. Demand for AI-enabled process automation and legacy modernization also remains favorable. Meanwhile, Appian’s discounted valuation relative to the software industry provides some downside support.

Near-term risks remain. Slower second-quarter guidance, macro uncertainty and intense competition could continue pressuring investor sentiment. However, Appian’s improving execution, expanding AI traction and rising earnings estimates suggest that the long-term growth story remains intact.

With APPN currently carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), the recent pullback may offer a favorable entry point for investors looking to gain exposure to enterprise AI automation and low-code software trends. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Is Appian The AI Play Investors Have Completely Missed?Appian NASDAQ: APPN executives used the company’s Investor Day 2026 in New York to frame the software maker as a provider of “complex process automation” for regulated industries and as a platform for making artificial intelligence more reliable in enterprise workflows.

Chief Financial Officer Serge Tanjga opened the event by saying Appian crossed the $700 million revenue mark last year, has 140 customers paying more than $1 million per year in software and expects to generate approximately $100 million in EBITDA this year. He said the company wants investors to leave with four points: Appian is mission-critical for customers, it is an “essential AI enabler,” it is improving sales efficiency and it has multiple ways to increase profitability per share.

Get Appian alerts:

Appian Emphasizes AI Within Deterministic Processes Beyond the Magnificent 7: Tech’s Rising StarsFounder and Chief Executive Officer Matt Calkins said Appian is a “worldwide leader in complex process automation” and argued that the company’s process technology gives it a differentiated role in enterprise AI. He described AI as powerful but probabilistic, meaning it can produce different answers to the same prompt, while Appian’s process layer is designed to add controls, validation, routing, auditability and human review.

“We don’t trust AI, but we know that if you put it in with all these restrictions, it’s going to give you a great output,” Calkins said. He said AI is most valuable in high-stakes processes when it is assigned narrow tasks, constrained actions and monitored outcomes.

UiPath: Has the Bar Been Set Too Low for This AI Robotic Leader?Calkins cited several customer examples, including a major financial services conglomerate using Appian for fraud management, a global pharmaceutical company using the platform for medicine quality control and a U.S. military branch using Appian for provisioning. He said Appian’s customer base includes seven of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies, seven of the top 10 insurers, eight of the top 10 non-Chinese banks, all 15 U.S. government agencies, U.S. military agencies and governments in 20 countries.

On AI adoption, Calkins said 40% of Appian’s customer base is paying Appian for AI and said usage has grown sharply, with the first quarter exceeding all of 2025 combined. He highlighted Doc Center, Appian’s AI-powered document processing product, saying hundreds of organizations are using it.

Product Leaders Highlight Data Fabric, Agents and Modernization Sanat Joshi, executive vice president of product and innovations, said Appian’s platform is built around process orchestration, Appian Data Fabric, process intelligence and enterprise-grade security and scalability. He said the company’s Data Fabric creates a virtual layer over source systems, allowing processes and AI agents to read and write to systems of record while preserving access controls.

Joshi said Appian customers run billions of processes each month and require high levels of availability and security. He also said Appian recently launched Appian Government Cloud at Department of Defense Impact Level 5 and FedRAMP High, and was awarded a $500 million contract to do business with the U.S. Army.

Jake Rank, vice president of product management, said Appian uses AI in several ways, including individual AI tasks inside workflows, Doc Center for document processing and AI agents. He said Appian agents can use Data Fabric, process models, business rules and integrations while staying within governance controls. Rank also described Appian Composer, a spec-driven development tool designed to use AI to extract requirements from legacy systems, collaborate on application plans and generate Appian applications.

Customers Discuss Regulated Use Cases During a customer panel led by Marc Wilson, Appian’s chief executive ambassador, Scott Morris, chief technology officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, said NAIC used Appian to replace a 20- to 25-year-old platform for insurance product and rate filings. Morris said Appian is helping automate intake and document classification, and that Doc Center is achieving about a 98% effective rate in classifying documents.

Bob LeBaron, senior vice president at Neuberger Berman, said the firm uses Appian for deal-closing workflows and fund and investor onboarding. He said Doc Center is being used to extract data from lengthy and varied subscription documents, with the goal of reducing human data entry and improving consistency in checks.

Keith Koharski, executive director and head of global development IT at Regeneron, said the pharmaceutical company uses Appian in study code development to bring together internal and third-party data across functions. He said Regeneron views AI through a hybrid approach and still relies on scientific debate and human decision-making in regulated processes.

PwC and Appian Discuss Legacy Modernization Dan Scott, a principal in PwC’s cloud and engineering practice, said PwC sees Appian as an application platform and said AI has increased interest in legacy modernization. Scott said customers are looking to move “end user computing,” including Access and Excel applications, into systems that can be made more useful with agents and workflow.

Scott said clients need more than coding tools, describing the need for an “AI stack” that includes knowledge management, ticketing, workflow, security controls and data governance. He said Appian’s combination of deterministic processes and agentic capabilities is creating new opportunities for PwC’s Appian practice.

Financial Outlook and Go-to-Market Changes Chief Revenue Officer Mark Dorsey said he has shifted Appian’s sales organization toward value-based selling, larger strategic deals and executive-level relationships. He said Appian sold more seven-figure deals last year than in any prior year in company history and has added senior sales talent from companies including Google, Adobe, IBM, Salesforce, Microsoft and ServiceNow.

Dorsey said the company is focused on pipeline, enablement, forecasting discipline and enterprise growth plans that allow large customers to expand usage across the organization. He said Appian is also exploring consumption-based pricing and using AI internally in sales processes.

Tanjga said Appian ended last year with more than $600 million in annual recurring revenue, with roughly 80% of ARR in the cloud. He said the company’s four major industry categories account for about 80% of ARR and that the number of customers spending more than $1 million annually with Appian has doubled over five years.

For 2026, Tanjga said Appian is forecasting $825 million in revenue at the midpoint of guidance, representing 13% growth, and about $100 million in EBITDA. He said Appian expects non-GAAP earnings per share of $1 at the midpoint, aided by revenue growth, margin expansion, lower interest expense and share repurchases. Tanjga also said Appian increased its buyback authorization from $50 million to $100 million after a strong start to the year.

About Appian NASDAQ: APPNAppian Corporation is a global technology company specializing in low-code automation platforms designed to streamline business processes. Founded in 1999 by Matt Calkins, the company provides an integrated suite of tools that enables organizations to build enterprise applications and workflows rapidly with minimal hand coding. The platform combines process management, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and data integration into a single environment, allowing businesses to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.

The core offering, the Appian Low-Code Platform, empowers users—ranging from professional developers to business analysts—to visually model, design and deploy applications that can automate complex operations, orchestrate tasks across systems, and deliver real-time analytics.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Should You Invest $1,000 in Appian Right Now?Before you consider Appian, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Appian wasn't on the list.

While Appian currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Learn the basics of options trading and how to use them to boost returns and manage risk with this free report from MarketBeat. Click the link below to get your free copy.

Get This Free Report

Mark Dorsey, Chief Revenue Officer of Appian (APPN +1.65%), a low-code automation platform provider, reported the direct acquisition of 5,227 shares of Common Stock in multiple open-market transactions on May 13, 2026, according to the SEC Form 4 filing.

Transaction summaryMetricValueShares traded5,227Transaction value~$100,000Post-transaction shares (direct)13,993Post-transaction value (direct ownership)~$267,700Transaction and post-transaction values based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($19.13).

Key questionsWhat is the significance of this transaction in the context of Mark Dorsey's historical activity at Appian?
This is the first open-market purchase by Dorsey in the disclosed history, marking a 59.63% increase in direct holdings, whereas all prior transactions were administrative with no change in economic exposure.How does the transaction price compare to recent pricing levels and the one-year share performance?
The weighted average purchase price of $19.13 per share was above the May 13, 2026 closing price, and the stock has declined 39.98% over the past year as of the transaction date.Were there any derivative or plan-based mechanics involved in this acquisition?
No options, derivatives, or indirect holdings were involved; the entire transaction was a direct open-market purchase with no indication of a pre-arranged trading plan.Company overviewMetricValueMarket capitalization$1.43 billionRevenue (TTM)$762.69 millionNet income (TTM)$0.89 million1-year price change(39.98%)* 1-year price change calculated using May 13, 2026 as the reference date.

Company snapshotAppian offers a low-code automation platform enabling customers to build forms, workflows, data structures, reports, and user interfaces, complemented by professional and customer support services.The company serves a diverse client base across financial services, government, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, and transportation sectors.Appian operates at scale in the enterprise software market, providing a robust low-code automation platform designed to accelerate digital transformation for organizations.

The company’s strategy centers on enabling rapid application development and process automation, reducing the need for manual coding and increasing operational efficiency. Appian’s broad industry reach and focus on recurring revenue underpin its competitive positioning in the technology sector.

What this transaction means for investorsThe May 13 purchase of Appian shares by its Chief Revenue Officer, Mark Dorsey, suggests he is bullish on the stock. The company was one of the many software businesses that were caught up in a sell-off during the first quarter of 2026.

Wall Street became worried that artificial intelligence would replace software companies, such as Appian, leading to its stock falling to a 52-week low of $18.63 on May 14, the day after Dorsey’s purchase. It appears he felt shares had reached an attractive price level and bought.

Despite Wall Street’s fears, Appian’s business is doing well. It ended 2025 with revenue of $726.9 million, up from the prior year’s $617 million. The company expects 2026 sales to continue growing, forecasting between $819 million and $831 million.

With the fall in its share price, Appian’s price-to-sales ratio of two is around a low point for the past year. This suggests now is a good time to buy the stock.

Robert Izquierdo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Appian. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

May 26, 2026 07:00 ET  | Source: Appian Corporation

MCLEAN, Va., May 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Appian (NASDAQ: APPN), today announced that Serge Tanjga, Chief Financial Officer, will present at the following upcoming conferences:

TD Cowen Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
Thursday, May 28, 2026
A fireside chat is scheduled for 1:50pm Eastern Time and will be webcast live at the following link: (https://event.summitcast.com/view/GSXkFLqLwmvLB7AnnUj3ti/guest_book?session_id=kC9mPwZXvHgRzkuDhxcPgo)

William Blair Growth Stock Conference
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
A presentation is scheduled for 2:40pm Central Time and will be webcast live at the following link: (https://event.summitcast.com/view/DTqswnj6gGSWZ7ywFcvpAo/guest_book?session_id=UpCgmNQGvBbw7QX5eHbEGc)

Replays of the fireside chat and presentation will be available for a limited time under the “News and Events” section of the Company’s investor relations website at http://investors.appian.com.

About Appian
Appian provides process automation technology. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We’ve been automating processes for 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]

Investor Contact
[email protected]

Media Contact
Valerie Miller
Senior Manager, Media Relations North America
[email protected]

Appian Corporation maintains a Hold rating due to robust revenue growth but ongoing lack of steady profitability and negative equity. APPN's Q1 showed 25% YoY cloud subscription growth and 31% YoY professional services growth, with FY26 revenue guidance of 18–19%. Operating cash flow is recovering, debt is declining, and share buybacks are ongoing, yet competitive pressures and muted upside persist.

Survey finds agencies prioritizing governance, oversight, and operational efficiency as AI adoption matures.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Appian (Nasdaq: APPN) today announced findings from a new survey of 2,000 US public sector workers, revealing that government agencies are increasingly moving AI beyond experimentation and into operational use. More than one-third (37%) of respondents describe their agency's AI integration as advanced, with AI embedded in multiple mission-critical processes, while another 32% say AI deployment is actively developing. Only 6% report that AI has not yet been integrated into agency processes. At the same time, adoption is not without challenges. Fourteen percent of respondents report their agency is re-evaluating AI investments due to budget, staffing, or other concerns, while 12% cite a lack of ROI as a reason for reassessment.

The findings suggest public sector organizations are increasingly focused on applying AI to improve government operations, support mission delivery, and strengthen decision-making while establishing the governance foundations needed to scale adoption responsibly.

AI adoption expands across operational government functions

Among agencies moving AI into production, adoption is occurring across a broad range of operational functions. Nearly half (47%) of respondents report AI is already in production for workforce planning and HR operations, followed by investigations, compliance, and case management (45%), procurement and contract management (44%), grants management (43%), cybersecurity and threat detection (42%), and citizen service delivery (41%).

These survey results demonstrate that agencies are applying AI across functions that support day-to-day government operations, from internal workforce management to citizen-facing services.

Governance and oversight emerge as priorities for scaling AI

As AI adoption grows, agencies are placing significant emphasis on the governance structures needed to support responsible use. Nearly half of respondents identify data privacy and security (46%), compliance with laws and standards (45%), and human oversight and accountability (44%) as top responsible AI priorities. Transparency and auditability also rank highly, with 42% citing them as key considerations.

The survey also found that agencies are actively aligning AI initiatives with government requirements. Forty percent of respondents report their agency is fully aligned and actively reporting AI use cases in accordance with current government directives, while 54% say alignment efforts are underway and governance frameworks remain in development.

Operational efficiency remains a key focus for future AI investments

Looking ahead, agencies are prioritizing AI initiatives that improve mission performance and operational outcomes. Respondents identified improving operational efficiency in mission delivery or citizen services (40%), automating complex workflows based on context, data, and prior outcomes (38%), improving decision-making with data-driven insights (37%), and ensuring compliance and reducing risk (35%) as their top AI strategy priorities.

"Recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services research found that organizations generate greater value from AI when it is integrated into workflows and operational systems," said Jason Adolf, Vice President, Global Public Sector at Appian. "This new public sector research shows government agencies increasingly putting that principle into practice. Agencies are applying AI across critical government functions while simultaneously investing in the governance, oversight, and accountability needed to support transparent and safe adoption at scale. The greatest opportunities for AI will come from connecting it to the processes that drive mission outcomes."

Methodology

Appian commissioned Censuswide to conduct an independent survey of 2,000 public sector workers in the United States between April 10 and April 28, 2026.

About Appian

Appian provides AI automation for mission-critical work. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We've been automating processes for more than 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]

Follow Appian: LinkedIn, X (Twitter)

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "will," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of Appian's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Appian is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.

SOURCE Appian