<ul><li><strong>Low-code cloud-service provider <keyword id="3250912" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Appian">Appian</keyword> reported <keyword id="6357061" type="SPONSORED" weightage="60" keywordseo="earnings">earnings</keyword> on Thursday after the market closed, and the stock fell as much as 11% on Friday.</strong></li><li><strong>The firm said 2021 cloud-subscription revenue will be lower on a year-over-year basis.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell&amp;hash=8122c716833601fc1471f79af063b104?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestutm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell</a>.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/appn-stock">Appian's</a> stock fell as much as 11% on Friday before paring losses. The low-code cloud services firm released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 <a href="https://investors.appian.com/index.php/news-releases/news-release-details/appian-announces-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2020-financial">earnings report</a> Thursday and a gave muted outlook.</p><p>The firm said its cloud-subscription business will see sales growth of 30% to 31%, which would mark a year-over-year decline from last year's 36% expansion.</p><p>The company also said it anticipates a non-GAAP loss per share of between $0.64 and $0.60 for the fiscal year 2021 on revenues of between $353 million and $355 million.</p><p>Goldman analysts, led by Christopher D. Merwin, CFA, said Appian did turn in "another strong quarter" on Thursday as low code adoption continues to pave the way for "30% sustainable growth."</p><p>However, they also reiterated their "neutral" rating on Appian and issued a $180 price target for the firm due to its lofty valuation - Appian currently trades at roughly 47-times trailing-twelve-month sales.</p><p>Merwin and company said they "believe <keyword id="10794701" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="appn">APPN</keyword> deserves a terminal value in line with other 30%+ growers in our coverage," but not above. Goldman's price target represents a potential 15% drop in share prices from current levels.</p><p>Mclean, Virginia-based Appian has seen its shares jump over 40% in 2021 amid a boom for cloud computing companies and in particular low-code platforms.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-02-15-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-low-code-development-technologies-market-to-grow-23-percent-in-2021#:~:text=The%20worldwide%20low%2Dcode%20development,latest%20forecast%20by%20Gartner%2C%20Inc.&amp;text=Low%2Dcode%20as%20a%20general,expected%20to%20continue%20growing%20significantly.tly.">data from Gartner</a>, enterprises are increasingly using low-code platforms for improved scalability and agility, and the low code market is expected to total $11.3 billion in 2021, a 23% increase year-over-year.</p><p>Additionally, a <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5184624/low-code-development-platform-market-research?utm_source=GNOM&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=5tph88&amp;utm_campaign=1462766+-+Global+%24187+Billion+Low-Code+Development+Platform+Market+to+2030&amp;utm_exec=chdo54prdm_exec=chdo54prd">study out of Research and Markets</a> found that by 2030 the low-code market could be worth $187 billion.</p><p>In a statement to Insider, <keyword id="10794702" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="matt-calkins">Matt Calkins</keyword>, the CEO and Founder of Appian, said he "feels good about the quarter and the full year" despite the stock falling post-earnings.</p><p>The CEO added, "this is a moment of great change and great opportunity for low-code technology - and Appian is the pioneer in the middle of it. 2020 was the year that low-code went from a slow revolution to a fast revolution. The technology is here is stay and will continue to transform the future of work."</p><p>Still, the booming low code sector hasn't been enough to bring profitability to Appian.  The company turned in a GAAP operating loss of $9.7 million in the fourth quarter on revenues of $81.6 million. And as discussed, guidance showed Appian expects to continue to struggle to turn a profit in 2021.</p><p>Despite the lack of profitability, Goldman saw the quarter as a net positive due to a "strengthening demand environment, growing partner ecosystem, and improving sales cycles."</p><p>Matt Calkins wasn't concerned with the losses either and instead focused on increasing cloud subscription and low-code revenue in the <a href="https://investors.appian.com/events/event-details/fourth-quarter-2020-earnings-conference-call">earnings conference call</a>.</p><p>"For the full year, we exceeded our guidance and grew cloud subscription revenue by 36% to $129.2 million. Appian is leading this market because our low-code platform is more than 10x faster, our partner ecosystem is growing, and our customers are happy," the CEO said.</p>

Appian tumbles 11% after earnings as outlook disappoints

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A US equity <keyword id="6357062" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="ETF">ETF</keyword> that uses <keyword id="6355999" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ai">AI</keyword> in its investment decisions has outperformed the <keyword id="123873" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="SP-500">S&amp;P 500</keyword> in 1-month returns.</li><li>While AIEQ likes momentum names, <keyword id="10688429" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="meme-stocks">meme stocks</keyword> like AMC aren't among its holdings, DataTrek found.</li><li>The ETF is beating the S&amp;P 500 for the year, but needed a mid-course correction after falling back.</li></ul><p>An exchange-traded fund that uses <keyword id="107950" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence</keyword> in identifying the most promising US equities has blasted past the S&amp;P 500 in returns for the past month - without any meme stocks in its holdings, analysis by DataTrek showed.</p><p>The AIEQ ETF's performance for the past month has been especially strong, and as of Monday, the 1-month return for the fund was 10.6%, compared with 2% for the S&amp;P 500. The 1-year return was 50.1%, while it was 39.9% for the index, DataTrek found.</p><p>Year-to-date, though, the two are much closer, at 13.6% for the ETF and 13.3% for the US equity index. And while the AIEQ has been logging a solid performance overall, its 3-month return was 0.5%, much lower than the S&amp;P 500's 7.2%. </p><p>The ETF regained strength and caught up with the index over the last month. It did this by adding companies with better performances to its holdings, DataTrek said. "In that respect, AIEQ's process looks a lot like a human manager, searching for momentum names that fit its investment process." the financial research firm said. </p><p>Despite this, DataTrek analysis showed the ETF was free of meme stocks, which can rise and fall in quick succession, significantly and quickly impacting returns. </p><p>Meme stocks such as GameStop and AMC have sent rumbles through the market in recent months, after retail investors banded together to buy the shares, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/amc-stock-price-jumps-redditors-overpower-hedge-fund-share-sale-2021-6-1030487087?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest">driving prices up</a> and causing short squeezes. As this <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/amc-warns-investors-lose-all-their-money-if-buy-stock-2021-6-1030492006">caused stocks to be overvalued</a>, those who invested at the highs or during the run-up were left <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gamestop-amc-stock-price-short-sellers-reddit-meme-stocks-wallstreetbets-2021-5-1030467069?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest">vulnerable to big losses in the longer term</a>. </p><p>Instead, AIEQ shifted its top 10 holdings. It kept Alphabet, 10X Genomics, Costar Group, Tesla and Square in the mix, albeit with weighting adjustments, and added MongoDB, DexCom, Appian, Carvana and Autozone. DocuSign and Yeti Holdings were among the stocks moved out of the top 10. </p><p>The fund also spread out its investments further. Its top 10 holdings now account for 28% of the portfolio, versus 40% previously, in an effort to catch the momentum of a wider range of stocks, DataTrek said. It currently manages assets worth $155.6 million and trades on the NYSE ARCA exchange. </p><p>AIEQ is powered by IBM's Watson supercomputing, which enables the actively-managed ETF to use artificial intelligence when picking stocks. It analyzes company, technical, macro and market data from news, social media, industry analysis, and financial statements, according to its profile on the <a href="https://etfmg.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AIEQ-FactSheet_2021-Q1.pdf">website</a> of the ETF Managers Trust, which runs the fund.</p>

An artificial-intelligence powered ETF has smashed the S&P 500 in the last month - without any meme stocks

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a1496aa3dbef4f1018b7955-1024/gettyimages-512414458.jpg" alt="CEO of Salesforce Marc Benioff" data-mce-source="Mike Windle/Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Mike Windle/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Software as a Service (SaaS) companies like Salesforce and Workday could see their enteprise values double by 2020 if they focus on growing margins, Morgan Stanley forecasts.</strong></li><li><strong>Among 32 companies with similar profiles, Morgan Stanley projects a 21% growth in annual revenue, and 40% growth collectively in terms of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 2022. </strong></li><li><strong>Salesforce (CRM), ServiceNow (NOW), Proofpoint (PFPT), RealPage (RP), Workday (WDAY), and Veeva Systems (VEEV) are forecast to see the biggest gains. </strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />Cloud-based software companies like Salesforce and Workday could see their values double in the next four years thanks to unique opportunities among this breed of tech companies to boost profit margins, according to the Morgan Stanley report published on Tuesday.</p><p>Analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote that while Software as a Service (SaaS) stocks may look expensive to investors under most traditional valuation metrics (such as price-earnings ratios), this ignores the real potential of cloud-based software companies that have recurring-revenue businesses.</p><div title="Page 6"><p><span>"Across our coverage group of 32 subscription-based models, we saw an average 30% revenue growth in 2017 (29% median)," the report says.  </span></p><p><span>That strong topline growth, combined with the improving efficiencies inherent in subscription software businesses translates into lots of room for operating margins to grow. Morgan Stanley has even coined a name for its SaaS company valuation model: Margin Medicine, which it defines as a framework for "for projecting efficiency improvements in subscription revenue models."<br /></span></p><p><span>Companies in this group could see 40% growth in terms of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). Collectively, these companies generate $3 billion in EBIT, which Morgan Stanley forecasts will grow to $16 billion in EBIT by 2022.</span></p><p><span>Among the stocks Morgan Stanley marks as most likely to see gains are Salesforce (CRM), ServiceNow (NOW), Proofpoint (PFPT), RealPage  (RP), and Workday (WDAY), and Veeva Systems (VEEV).</span></p><h2>5 key ingredients</h2><p>Morgan Stanley lists five factors that it believes will combine to provide a 30% point average boost in operating margins at SaaS companies:</p><ol><li><strong>Sales and Marketing efficiency, as headcount growth slows </strong></li><li><strong>Shifting in revenue mix towards subscription revenue instead of professional services</strong></li><li><strong>Spreading R&amp;D investments across a broader group of customers</strong></li><li><strong>Savings in General and Administrative costs</strong></li><li><strong>Improving subscription renewal rates from <keyword id="6356323" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Enterprise">enterprise</keyword> customers</strong></li></ol><div title="Page 8"><div><div><p><span>"Across our 32 recurring revenue software companies, we see significant room for revenue growth and profitability expansion," the report says. </span></p></div></div></div><p>With these gains, some of the SaaS companies could double in enterprise value, Morgan Stanley says.</p><p>Here are the 32 companies included in its analysis: </p><p>8x8 Inc., AppFolio, Appian, Box, Cloudera, Coupa Software, Castlight Health, EllieMae, Five9, GoDaddy, HubSpot, Instructure, Mindbody, Medidata Solutions, MongoDB, New Relic, Proofpoint, Qualys, Q2 Holdings, RealPage, Red Hat, RingCentral, Salesforce.com, SendGrid, ServiceNow, Shopify, Sophos Group, Veeva Systems, Workday, Workiva, Yext, Zendesk.</p></div><p> </p><p class="tagline">Visit  <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/">Markets Insider</a> for constantly updated market quotes for individual stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities and currencies traded around the world. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/">Go Now!</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/myths-earth-true-science-2016-4">5 common 'facts' about Earth that everyone gets wrong</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/TZgTiXYy-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "appian stock price" and got 3 results

Appian tumbles 11% after earnings as outlook disappoints

Will Daniel

An artificial-intelligence powered ETF has smashed the S&P 500 in the last month - without any meme stocks

Sophie Kiderlin

MORGAN STANLEY: Enterprise software companies like Salesforce and Workday could double in value by 2020

Becky Peterson