What happened

Shares of Appian (APPN 3.90%) tumbled today as investors sold off their shares following last week's massive price run-up. 

The tech stock fell by as much as 20.5% today and was down by 17.7% as of 12:22 p.m. EST. 

So what

Appian's share price skyrocketed 55% last week, pushing the company's stock up an impressive 407% since the beginning of this year. It's unclear what led investors to boost the company's share price so quickly last week, but it now appears that some investors are taking the stock's gains and cashing out today. 

An arrow pointing down with a red background.

Image source: Getty Images.

Appian provides low-code tools that allow companies to easily build applications, and its business has thrived this year, despite the pandemic. For example, the company's cloud subscription revenue jumped 40% in the third quarter (reported on Nov. 5) and beat management's own guidance for the quarter.

Appian's stock, as with many other tech companies this year, has seen its price climb as investors looked for companies that they believed could thrive during the pandemic. 

Today's sell-off doesn't appear to be the result of any company-specific news, but rather from investors taking some of Appian's recent gains. 

Now what 

Investors who bought Appian intending to hold on to it for the long term shouldn't be too concerned with today's share price drop. Nothing has fundamentally changed with the core business, which means that most investors should stay the course and ignore some of the selling taking place.