Contrasting Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) and Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE)

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) and Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Appian and Couchbase”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Appian	$633.61 million	3.45	-$92.26 million	($0.83)	-35.49
Couchbase	$214.66 million	4.80	-$80.18 million	($1.37)	-13.91

Couchbase has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Appian. Appian is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Couchbase, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Appian and Couchbase, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Appian	1	5	2	0	2.13
Couchbase	1	2	14	0	2.76

Appian currently has a consensus target price of $36.29, suggesting a potential upside of 23.17%. Couchbase has a consensus target price of $21.65, suggesting a potential upside of 13.63%. Given Appian’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Appian is more favorable than Couchbase.

Volatility and Risk

Appian has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Couchbase has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

52.7% of Appian shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Couchbase shares are owned by institutional investors. 43.0% of Appian shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of Couchbase shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Appian and Couchbase’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Appian	-14.95%	-532.05%	-10.88%
Couchbase	-39.31%	-57.22%	-30.94%

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 Couchbase

Couchbase, Inc. provides cloud database platform for enterprise applications in the United States and internationally. Its database works in multiple configurations, ranging from cloud to multi- or hybrid-cloud to on-premise environments to the edge. The company offers Couchbase Capella, an automated and secure Database-as-a-Service that simplifies database management by deploying, managing, and operating Couchbase Server across cloud environments; and Couchbase Server, a multi-service NoSQL database, which provides SQL-compatible query language and SQL++ that allows for a various array of data manipulation functions. It also provides Couchbase Mobile, an embedded NoSQL database for mobile and edge devices that enables an always-on experience with high data availability, even without internet connectivity, as well as synchronization gateway that allows for secure data sync between mobile devices and the backend data store. The company sells its platform through direct sales force and an ecosystem of partners. It serves governments and organizations, as well as enterprises in various industries, including retail and e-commerce, travel and hospitality, financial services and insurance, software and technology, gaming, media and entertainment, and industrials. The company was formerly known as Membase, Inc. and changed its name to Couchbase, Inc. in February 2011. Couchbase, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.