The company’s revenues were up, but so were its losses.
This week Appian delivered its fourth-quarter financial results. In short, the company beat Wall Street’s expectations, but its stock still fell in extended trading due to its increasing losses.
Overall, the automation software provider reported a loss of 28 cents per share, calculated before certain costs such as stock compensation. The revenue, however, is up 20% from a year earlier, at $125.8 million. These results were judged to be “good”, as Wall Street analysts had expected a bigger loss of 40 cents per share on lower revenue of only $122.4 million.
Overall outlook is not good
The overall picture for Appian looks negative. The company delivered a net loss of $34.4 million for the quarter, rising from a loss of $25.8 million one year ago.
Moreover, when we look at the full year, Appian’s loss widened to $150.9 million. This is significantly more than the loss of $88.6 million the company reported in fiscal 2021. One bright spot: full-year revenue came to $468 million, up from $369.2 million last year.
“A revolution on the horizon”
Matt Calkins, Appian Founder, Chairman, CEO & President, was upbeat on an earnings call Thursday. “Appian’s value proposition emphasizes efficiency, productivity, time to value and ROI, the very things buyers seek in a downed economy”, he said. “Speaking of productivity, I think there may be a revolution on the horizon”, he added.
“The science of productivity enhancement has come a long way in the past few years”, Calkins continued. “Software is ready to be more than a tool to help people do work. Software is ready to do the work for us. That’s the revolution” he said.
Pressing on, Calkins hammered home the positive news. “First, our cloud gross renewal rate, which held constant at 99% on each of the 4 quarters of the year. This is a best-in-class rate. It’s a spectacular rate”, he stressed. “I’ll also note our steady growth in customer ARR (annual recurring revenue) cohorts, especially large ones”, he added.
3 hours ago
