While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Appian Corporation (NASDAQ:APPN) share price has gained 24% in the last three months. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. Truth be told the share price declined 44% in three years and that return, Dear Reader, falls short of what you could have got from passive investing with an index fund.

Given the past week has been tough on shareholders, let's investigate the fundamentals and see what we can learn.

Because Appian made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last three years, Appian saw its revenue grow by 17% per year, compound. That's a pretty good rate of top-line growth. Shareholders have seen the share price fall at 13% per year, for three years. So the market has definitely lost some love for the stock. With revenue growing at a solid clip, now might be the time to focus on the possibility that it will have a brighter future.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

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. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

Appian shareholders are up 5.9% for the year. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 0.5% per year, over five years. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Appian you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

Appian is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find lesser know companies this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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.