After an Earnings Pop, Is This AI Stock Ready to Soar?

Appian (NASDAQ: APPN) has struggled on the stock market in recent years even as it's continued to deliver steady top-line growth.However, the company gave investors some good news last week with its fourth-quarter (Q4) earnings report sending the stock up 16% on Wednesday. Appian has since given up most of those gains in line with a broader decline in the market on general economic concerns, but the news nonetheless shows the company is on the right track as it has made artificial intelligence (AI) the centerpiece of the Appian platform, a suite of software tools that help businesses more efficiently handle operations like insurance-claims processing and government procurement, and validate financial transactions.In Q4, cloud-subscription revenue rose 19% to $98.9 million, driving overall revenue up 15% to $166.7 million, which beat estimates at $164.3 million. On the bottom line, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) jumped from $1 million to $21.2 million, showing the results of the company's focus on efficiency and restructuring its go-to-market strategy, an effort that is ongoing but "bearing fruit" according to CEO Matt Calkins. On a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, operating expenses rose just 3.5%, showing it's successfully controlling costs. Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool