What happened
Shares of Appian (APPN 3.18%) gained as much as 5% today after a Wall Street analyst raised his price target on the stock. As of 12:45 p.m. EST, shares had given up some of those gains and were up just 2%.
So what
Morgan Stanley analyst Sanjit Singh remains bearish on Appian's prospects, reiterating an underweight (equivalent to sell) rating on the stock. However, Singh adjusted his price target on Appian from $80 to $100, which represents approximately 46% downside relative to yesterday's closing price. The analyst acknowledged that conditions are improving, and low code application development is becoming more important for many enterprise chief information officers, citing channel checks.
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The technology company is starting to close deals that had been put on hold previously, according to the analyst. The bearish rating is due to a poor risk/reward profile, and Singh believes that investors have more compelling opportunities in the software sector.
Now what
Appian just scheduled its fourth-quarter earnings release for Feb. 18. The company's guidance calls for total revenue of $73 million to $74 million, which should result in adjusted EBITDA of negative $10 million to negative $11 million. Appian is forecasting an adjusted net loss per share of $0.16 to $0.18. Wall Street is currently looking for $74 million in revenue and an adjusted net loss per share of $0.17.
The company will also be participating in a handful of investor conferences in late February and early March after it reports quarterly results.
