Appian
APPN on Nasdaq. Appian provides process automation technology to large enterprises and governments. Market value $2.6bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
Nothing stands out yet.
See Technology stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $2.78 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 283.1 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns -50 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 28 of 100. Price score: 15 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$37.25 a share, 100% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $18.63 to $46.06.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $369m | $468m | $545m | $617m | $727m |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -22.7% | -31.0% | -19.8% | -9.9% | 0.1% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.00 | 0.81 | 3.95 | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.07bn | 0.07bn | 0.07bn | 0.07bn | 0.07bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive2 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)7 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- DebtUnknown
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 19.0% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $203 million last quarter, up 19% on a year ago.
- A loss of $12 million, compared with a loss of $312,000 a year ago.
- It keeps 1 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, after losing 2 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $77 million, up from $46 million.
- 2% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $115 million more than cash, down from $133 million a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $154m |
| December 2024 | $167m |
| March 2025 | $166m |
| June 2025 | $171m |
| September 2025 | $187m |
| December 2025 | $203m |
| March 2026 | $202m |
| June 2026 | $203m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | -$2m |
| December 2024 | -$14m |
| March 2025 | -$1m |
| June 2025 | -$312,000 |
| September 2025 | $8m |
| December 2025 | -$5m |
| March 2026 | -$2m |
| June 2026 | -$12m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 19 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 5 November 2026
Who owns it
1 long-term investor we follow owns it, unchanged from 1 last quarter. 213 funds in all.
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $3m | <0.1% | Added |
Largest holders overall
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$96m
- BlackRock$82mAdded
- Fivespan Partners, LP$80m
- Lead Edge Capital Management$66mAdded
- RPD Fund Management$43mCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$38m
- AQR Capital Management$32mAdded
- First Trust Advisors LP$32mAdded
- Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership$32mCut
- State Street$25mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
8 investors own more than 5%.
- Matthew W. CalkinsPassive investor39.2%Since 31 December 2024
- Abdiel Capital Management, LLCPassive investorat least 22.7%(filed with 4 related holders)Since 11 April 2025
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor10.1%Since 27 February 2026
- Ahmet H.OkumusPassive investor9.1%Since 20 February 2026
- at least 7.9%+1.7 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 3 February 2026
- Lead Edge Capital Management, LLCPassive investorat least 6.8%(filed with 3 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- Abdiel Capital Advisors, LPPassive investorat least 4.9%−1.7 pts(filed with 5 related holders)Since 27 August 2025
- RPD Fund Management LLCPassive investorat least 4.4%−4.7 pts(filed with 3 related holders)Since 30 June 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Matthew W. Calkins Passive investor | 39.2% | 31 December 2024 | |
Abdiel Capital Management, LLC Passive investor | at least 22.7% (filed with 4 related holders) | 11 April 2025 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 10.1% | 27 February 2026 | |
Ahmet H.Okumus Passive investor | 9.1% | 20 February 2026 | |
at least 7.9%+1.7 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 3 February 2026 | ||
Lead Edge Capital Management, LLC Passive investor | at least 6.8% (filed with 3 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
Abdiel Capital Advisors, LP Passive investor | at least 4.9%−1.7 pts (filed with 5 related holders) | 27 August 2025 | |
RPD Fund Management LLC Passive investor | at least 4.4%−4.7 pts (filed with 3 related holders) | 30 June 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 1 insider bought $99,993 of shares on the open market. 2 sold $6m, $6m of it under preset trading plans.
- Calkins Matthew WCEO and President, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 8 September 2026
- Shares
- 45,000
- Price
- $35.19
- Value
- $2m
- Calkins Matthew WCEO and President, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 7 August 2026
- Shares
- 45,000
- Price
- $34.46
- Value
- $2m
- Calkins Matthew WCEO and President, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 7 July 2026
- Shares
- 50,000
- Price
- $24.72
- Value
- $1m
- Calkins Matthew WCEO and President, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 8 June 2026
- Shares
- 50,000
- Price
- $24.13
- Value
- $1m
- Dorsey MarkChief Revenue OfficerBought
- Date
- 13 May 2026
- Shares
- 5,227
- Price
- $19.13
- Value
- $99,993
- Lynch Mark StevenDirectorSold
- Date
- 3 March 2026
- Shares
- 9,530
- Price
- $27.00
- Value
- $257,310
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2026 | Calkins Matthew W CEO and President, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 45,000 | $35.19 | $2m |
| 7 August 2026 | Calkins Matthew W CEO and President, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 45,000 | $34.46 | $2m |
| 7 July 2026 | Calkins Matthew W CEO and President, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 50,000 | $24.72 | $1m |
| 8 June 2026 | Calkins Matthew W CEO and President, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 50,000 | $24.13 | $1m |
| 13 May 2026 | Dorsey Mark Chief Revenue Officer | Bought | 5,227 | $19.13 | $99,993 |
| 3 March 2026 | Lynch Mark Steven Director | Sold | 9,530 | $27.00 | $257,310 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 19 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 6 Aug 2026 and 3 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It owes more than it owns on paper (negative equity). Often that's from borrowing to buy back shares.
- It isn't cheap on profits: 283.1× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.