Appian Corporation (NASDAQ:APPN) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 26% in the last month. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. After all, the share price is down 48% in the last three years, significantly under-performing the market.

While the last three years has been tough for Appian shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

View our latest analysis for Appian

Given that Appian didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

Over three years, Appian grew revenue at 17% per year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. Shareholders have seen the share price fall at 14% per year, for three years. So the market has definitely lost some love for the stock. However, that's in the past now, and it's the future is more important - and the future looks brighter (based on revenue, anyway).

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. If you are thinking of buying or selling Appian stock, you should check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

A Different Perspective

Appian provided a TSR of 6.5% over the last twelve months. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 2% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Appian better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Appian .

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: most of them are flying under the radar).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.