APPN vs NOW Stock Comparison

Appian and ServiceNow Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
APPN Appian Corp
$52.35 +37.9% 1M +68.6% 1Y
Market cap
$3.76B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$795.31M
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
2 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$158.99 +12.9% 1M -15.4% 1Y
Market cap
$162.99B
P/E
97.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
7 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

ServiceNow leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (ServiceNow 7, Appian 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPPNNOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.76B $162.99B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -353.8x 97.6x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 46.7x 41.3x NOW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.9% +22.2% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.3% 11.3% NOW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 0.8x NOW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +68.6% -15.4% APPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -11.2%/yr +3.0%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 68.2% 58.7% NOW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 50/100 APPN

Percentile Scorecard

APPNNOW

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

AxisAPPNNOW
Valuation 41 #60 of 101 27 #74 of 101
Growth 91 #10 of 97 58 #41 of 97
Profitability 55 #43 of 94 81 #19 of 94
Financial Health 32 #75 of 109 51 #54 of 109
Shareholder Returns 38 #40 of 64 35 #42 of 64
Overall 51 50
  • APPN ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAPPNNOWSPY
1 month +37.9%+12.9% -1.0%
3 months +120.4%+61.0% +2.9%
6 months +136.3%+76.3% +6.4%
Year to date +47.8%+3.8% +11.4%
1 year +68.6%-15.4% +13.1%
3 years +25.8%+43.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year +8.0%+12.8% +21.5%
5 years -44.9%+15.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year -11.2%+3.0% +10.9%
10 years —+893.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+25.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAPPNNOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 68.2%58.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 59.7%61.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.510.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.01-0.26 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -81.9%-64.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-16.0% -2.5%
52-week high $52.35$189.26 $779.14
52-week low $18.72$83.00 $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.

MultipleAPPNNOW
P/E now vs peer median -359.3xmedian 29.9x 98.2xmedian 29.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.8x 11.2xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 188.9xmedian 17.4x 48.9xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 49.0xmedian 16.9x 35.9xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median -35.7xmedian 3.1x 13.1xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median -6.06median 0.86 18.89median 0.86

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 monthsAPPNNOW
Revenue $795.31M $14.73B
Gross profit $565.62M $11.02B
Operating income $10.14M $1.68B
Net income -$10.62M $1.67B
Free cash flow $76.75M $4.58B
R&D $185.95M $3.26B
EPS (diluted) $-0.15 $1.61
Cash & equivalents $121.11M $2.50B
Total debt $236.03M $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 72.90M 1.03B
Enterprise value $3.01B $141.45B

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
MetricAPPNNOW
P/E -359.3x 98.2x
P/FCF 49.0x 35.9x
P/Operating cash flow 46.5x 31.0x
P/S 4.7x 11.2x
P/B -35.7x 13.1x
P/Tangible book -35.5x 18.8x
EV/EBITDA 188.9x 48.9x
EV/EBIT 377.3x 99.6x
EV/Revenue 4.8x 11.4x
EV/FCF 49.9x 36.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 47.4x 31.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -6.06 18.89

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPPNNOW
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.9% 22.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.2% 22.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.3% 16.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 15.8% 20.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 172.8% 4.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 27.4% 49.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 38.4% 0.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 59.3% 5.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 37.3% 1.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 59.3% 5.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 66.0% 13.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 42.0% 22.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 66.9% 19.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 39.7% 25.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPPNNOW
Gross margin 71.1% 74.8%
EBITDA margin 2.5% 23.2%
Operating margin 1.3% 11.4%
Pretax margin -0.7% 15.9%
Net margin -1.3% 11.3%
FCF margin 9.6% 31.1%
Operating cash flow margin 10.2% 36.0%
Return on equity – 13.8%
Return on assets -1.8% 6.0%
Return on invested capital 6.5% –
Return on capital employed 5.3% 10.6%
Asset turnover 1.3x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -7.6x 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 5.4% 12.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPPNNOW
Debt / assets 40.3% 23.7%
Debt / equity -2.2x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 3.1x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 118.0% 60.5%
Equity / assets -18.0% 39.5%
Interest coverage 0.6x –
Current ratio 1.0x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 3.18 5.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPPNNOW
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield 2.0% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 1.9%
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.

ConsensusAPPNNOW
Forward P/E 46.7xFY2026 41.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.12FY2026 $3.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +83.6%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% +27.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $897.68MFY2026 $15.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +23.5%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +17.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPPNNOW
Held by institutions 94.9% 81.6%
Institutions holding 212 2,224
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.3% -2.1%
Institutions buying 120 1,285
Institutions selling 52 779
Buyers to sellers 2.31 1.65

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.

APPNNOW
APPN 1.00 0.59
NOW 0.59 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APPN and NOW?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Appian (APPN) $3.76B, ServiceNow (NOW) $162.99B.

Which company is growing faster?

ServiceNow (NOW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Appian (APPN) +20.9%, ServiceNow (NOW) +22.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

ServiceNow (NOW) has the highest net margin (Appian (APPN) -1.3%, ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Appian (APPN) returned the most: Appian (APPN) +68.6%, ServiceNow (NOW) -15.4%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (Appian (APPN) -11.2%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) +3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, ServiceNow (NOW) has been the steadiest (Appian (APPN) 68.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) 58.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do APPN and NOW move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.59, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, APPN and NOW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, ServiceNow (NOW) leads on 7. 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.