Appian (NASDAQ:APPN – Get Free Report) and Cognyte Software (NASDAQ:CGNT – Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Appian and Cognyte Software, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Appian | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Cognyte Software | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Appian currently has a consensus price target of $40.80, indicating a potential upside of 23.71%. Cognyte Software has a consensus price target of $8.25, indicating a potential downside of 4.62%. Given Appian’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Appian is more favorable than Cognyte Software.
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Appian | $595.66 million | 4.73 | -$111.44 million | ($1.22) | -27.03 |
| Cognyte Software | $339.82 million | 1.83 | -$15.57 million | ($0.19) | -45.53 |
Cognyte Software has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Appian. Cognyte Software is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Appian, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Appian and Cognyte Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Appian | -14.88% | -532.05% | -10.11% |
| Cognyte Software | -3.95% | -13.38% | -6.12% |
Volatility and Risk
Appian has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its share price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cognyte Software has a beta of 1.81, indicating that its share price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
52.7% of Appian shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.9% of Cognyte Software shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.0% of Appian shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 62.7% of Cognyte Software shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Cognyte Software beats Appian on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Appian
Appian Corporation, a software company that provides low-code design platform in the United States, Mexico, Portugal, and internationally. The company's platform offers artificial intelligence, process automation, data fabric, and process mining. It provides The Appian Platform, an integrated automation platform that enables organizations to design, automate, and optimize mission-critical business processes. The company also offers professional and customer support services. It serves to financial services, government, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, and transportation industries. Appian Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
About Cognyte Software
Cognyte Software Ltd. provides an investigative analytics software to governments and enterprises worldwide. Its Actionable Intelligence for a Safer World, an open software designed to help governments and enterprises accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of investigations. The company offers network intelligence analytics, threat intelligence analytics, decision intelligence analytics, and operational intelligence analytics solutions. Its solutions are designed to support various use cases and support a range of users, including data analysts, investigation managers, and security operations center operators, as well as operational field teams. In addition, the company provides customer support, professional, and integration services. Its government customers include national, regional, and local government agencies. Cognyte Software Ltd. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel.
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