APPN vs BR vs ESTC Stock Comparison

Appian, Broadridge Financial Solutions and Elastic Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (EGAN) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
APPN Appian Corp
$51.57 +43.2% 1M +63.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.64B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$795.31M
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
2 wins
ESTC Elastic N.V.
$106.26 +20.7% 1M +20.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.02B
P/E
29.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.80B
Div. yield
–
Data Infrastructure Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Broadridge Financial Solutions leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Broadridge Financial Solutions 6, Elastic 3, Appian 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPPNBRESTCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.64B $20.57B $11.02B BR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -342.8x 18.3x 29.3x BR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 46.0x 17.5x 30.3x BR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.9% +8.5% +16.2% APPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.3% 15.0% 20.8% ESTC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% 16.7% 0.0% BR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 1.8x -10.8x ESTC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +63.1% -22.0% +20.5% APPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -11.3%/yr 0.0%/yr -8.8%/yr BR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 68.3% 30.6% 58.2% BR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 56/100 71/100 ESTC

Percentile Scorecard

APPNBRESTC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAPPNBRESTC
Valuation 39 #63 of 102 62 #39 of 102 70 #38 of 124
Growth 91 #10 of 98 40 #59 of 98 82 #21 of 113
Profitability 56 #42 of 95 81 #19 of 95 66 #38 of 110
Financial Health 32 #74 of 109 44 #61 of 109 53 #61 of 129
Shareholder Returns 43 #37 of 64 51 #32 of 64 85 #11 of 67
Overall 52 56 71
  • APPN ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • BR ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • ESTC ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAPPNBRESTCSPY
1 month +43.2%+10.6%+20.7% -0.8%
3 months +101.8%+18.6%+73.6% +3.5%
6 months +134.8%+15.8%+122.2% +7.0%
Year to date +45.6%-18.9%+40.9% +12.2%
1 year +63.1%-22.0%+20.5% +13.0%
3 years +29.0%+8.2%+40.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +8.9%+2.7%+12.1% +23.1%
5 years -45.1%-0.1%-37.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year -11.3%0.0%-8.8% +11.0%
10 years —+180.8%— +258.0%
10 years, per year —+10.9%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAPPNBRESTCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 68.3%30.6%58.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 59.7%32.8%59.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.510.031.14 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.92-0.720.35 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -81.9%-49.3%-76.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.5%-22.0%0.0% -1.8%
52-week high $52.35$232.02$106.26 $779.14
52-week low $18.72$135.44$43.30 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAPPNBRESTC
P/E now vs peer median -354.0xmedian 28.8x 18.7xmedian 28.8x 29.6xmedian 38.1x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.8x 2.8xmedian 2.8x 6.2xmedian 4.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 186.1xmedian 17.7x 14.6xmedian 17.7x 124.2xmedian 35.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 48.2xmedian 15.8x 16.1xmedian 15.8x 32.0xmedian 27.1x
P/B now vs peer median -35.2xmedian 3.2x 7.3xmedian 3.2x 8.6xmedian 3.4x
PEG now vs peer median -5.97median 0.85 0.85median 0.85 0.55median 1.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAPPNBRESTC
Revenue $795.31M $7.48B $1.80B
Gross profit $565.62M $2.38B $1.36B
Operating income $10.14M $1.30B -$47.61M
Net income -$10.62M $1.12B $375.64M
Free cash flow $76.75M $1.28B $349.04M
R&D $185.95M – $455.30M
EPS (diluted) $-0.15 $9.60 $3.59
Cash & equivalents $121.11M $402.90M $879.87M
Total debt $236.03M $3.25B $571.20M
Shares (diluted) 72.90M 117.10M 104.64M
Enterprise value $2.89B $19.20B $5.55B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAPPNBRESTC
P/E -354.0x 18.7x 29.6x
P/FCF 48.2x 16.1x 32.0x
P/Operating cash flow 45.9x 15.3x 31.5x
P/S 4.7x 2.8x 6.2x
P/B -35.2x 7.3x 8.6x
P/Tangible book -35.0x 12.6x 8.7x
EV/EBITDA 186.1x 14.6x 124.2x
EV/EBIT 371.8x 18.1x -215.9x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 3.1x 5.7x
EV/FCF 49.1x 18.4x 29.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 46.7x 17.5x 29.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -5.97 0.85 0.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPPNBRESTC
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.9% 8.5% 16.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.2% 7.2% 17.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.3% 11.2% 16.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 15.8% 10.0% 18.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 172.8% 9.4% -56.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 27.4% 11.6% 37.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 38.4% 33.9% 549.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 59.3% 21.3% 55.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 37.3% 35.3% 555.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 59.3% 21.9% 53.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 66.0% 14.9% 11.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 42.0% 17.8% 62.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 66.9% 13.4% 11.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 39.7% 17.7% 63.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPPNBRESTC
Gross margin 71.1% 31.8% 75.5%
EBITDA margin 2.5% 21.5% 4.6%
Operating margin 1.3% 17.4% -2.6%
Pretax margin -0.7% 19.3% -1.1%
Net margin -1.3% 15.0% 20.8%
FCF margin 9.6% 17.1% 19.4%
Operating cash flow margin 10.2% 18.0% 19.6%
Return on equity – 39.7% 29.2%
Return on assets -1.8% 12.7% 12.2%
Return on invested capital 6.5% 16.7% 0.0%
Return on capital employed 5.3% 17.5% -2.3%
Asset turnover 1.3x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -7.6x 1.2x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 5.4% 1.3% 16.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPPNBRESTC
Debt / assets 40.3% 36.4% 19.0%
Debt / equity -2.2x 1.1x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 1.8x -10.8x
Debt / FCF 3.1x 2.5x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 118.0% 68.2% 56.8%
Equity / assets -18.0% 31.8% 43.2%
Interest coverage 0.6x – -1.9x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.2x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.1x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.3x 1.4x
Altman Z-score 3.13 4.10 4.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPPNBRESTC
Dividend yield – 2.2% –
Net buyback yield 2.0% 2.8% 3.1%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 5.0% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAPPNBRESTC
Forward P/E 46.0xFY2026 17.5xFY2027 30.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.12FY2026 $10.32FY2027 $3.51FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +83.6%FY2026 +7.5%FY2027 +36.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% +5.0% +19.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $897.68MFY2026 $7.42BFY2027 $1.88BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +23.5%FY2026 -0.9%FY2027 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +3.8% +18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPPNBRESTC
Held by institutions 94.9% 92.3% 86.4%
Institutions holding 212 1,014 371
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.3% -1.2% +1.7%
Institutions buying 120 487 199
Institutions selling 52 398 129
Buyers to sellers 2.31 1.22 1.54

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

APPNBRESTC
APPN 1.00 0.42 0.47
BR 0.42 1.00 0.33
ESTC 0.47 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APPN, BR and ESTC?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Appian (APPN) $3.64B, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) $20.57B, Elastic (ESTC) $11.02B.

Which stock is cheaper, APPN, BR and ESTC?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Appian (APPN) -342.8x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 18.3x, Elastic (ESTC) 29.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is cheapest (Appian (APPN) 46.0x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 17.5x, Elastic (ESTC) 30.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Appian (APPN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Appian (APPN) +20.9%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) +8.5%, Elastic (ESTC) +16.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Elastic (ESTC) has the highest net margin (Appian (APPN) -1.3%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 15.0%, Elastic (ESTC) 20.8%). On return on invested capital, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) leads (Appian (APPN) 6.5%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 16.7%, Elastic (ESTC) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Appian (APPN) returned the most: Appian (APPN) +63.1%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) -22.0%, Elastic (ESTC) +20.5%. Over five years, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) compounded fastest (Appian (APPN) -11.3%/yr, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 0.0%/yr, Elastic (ESTC) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) has been the steadiest (Appian (APPN) 68.3%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 30.6%, Elastic (ESTC) 58.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, APPN, BR and ESTC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.