Sifting through countless of stocks in the Software industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Lightspeed Commerce Inc. or Appian Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. engages in sale of cloud-based software subscriptions and payments solutions for single and multi-location retailers, restaurants, golf course operators, and other businesses. It offers a cloud-based commerce platform that connects suppliers, merchants, and consumers to enable omnichannel experiences and engage with consumers, manage operations, accept payments, and grow business. The company’s cloud platform is designed around interrelated elements, such as omni-channel consumer experience, a comprehensive back-office operations management suite to improve customers’ efficiency and insight, and the facilitation of payments. Its platform functionalities include full omni-channel capabilities, point of sale (POS), product and menu management, kitchen display system (KDS), employee and inventory management comprising ordering, analytics and reporting, multi-location connectivity, order anywhere and curbside pickup functionality, loyalty, and customer management solutions. The company also offers tailored financial solutions, such as Lightspeed Payments and Lightspeed Capital; Lightspeed Restaurant, a unified hospitality commerce offering; Lightspeed Retail, a retail commerce offering; Lightspeed eCommerce; Lightspeed Wholesale; and Lightspeed NuORDER integration to order from various brands. In addition, it sells hardware, including tablets, customer-facing displays, KDS screens, receipt printers, networking hardware, cash drawers, payment terminals, servers, stands, bar-code scanners, and an assortment of accessories, as well as provide installation and implementation services. The company was formerly known as Lightspeed POS Inc. and changed its name to Lightspeed Commerce Inc. in August 2021. Lightspeed Commerce Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Appian Corporation operates as a software company in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers The Appian Platform, an integrated automation platform that enables organizations to design, automate, and optimize critical business processes. The company also offers cloud subscriptions bundled with maintenance and support and hosting services, license subscriptions, and maintenance and support for license subscriptions; and professional and customer support services. In addition, the company offers platforms, such as artificial intelligence, low-code, data fabric, process automation, intelligent document processing, process mining, process intelligence, and case management studio; and solutions, including federal acquisition, public sector case management, state and local e-procurement, contract lifecycle management, insurance connected underwriting, and insurance claims processing. It serves financial services, government, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, and transportation industries. The company has a collaboration with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited for the development of New AI-Powered Policing Solutions. Appian Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Latest Software and Lightspeed Commerce Inc., Appian Corporation Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, Lightspeed Commerce Inc. had a $1.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Software median of $1.1 million. Lightspeed Commerce Inc.’s stock is down 13% in 2026, down 0.8% in the previous five trading days and down 11.23% in the past year.

Currently, Lightspeed Commerce Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Lightspeed Commerce Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.2 billion with a -7.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.624 per share for the current fiscal year. Lightspeed Commerce Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 4, 2026, Appian Corporation had a $2.7 billion market cap, putting it in the 58th percentile of all stocks. Appian Corporation’s stock is up 8.3% in 2026, down 9.7% in the previous five trading days and up 28.24% in the past year.

Currently, Appian Corporation does not have a price-earnings ratio. Appian Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $795.3 million with a -1.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 19.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.081 per share for the current fiscal year. Appian Corporation does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Lightspeed Commerce Inc.	LSPD	B
Appian Corporation	APPN	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. has a Quality Score of 78, which is Strong. Appian Corporation has a Quality Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Appian Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Appian Corporation has a better overall quality grade than Lightspeed Commerce Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Appian Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Lightspeed Commerce Inc.	LSPD	D
Appian Corporation	APPN	A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. has a Momentum Score of 35, which is Weak. Appian Corporation has a Momentum Score of 88, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Appian Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Appian Corporation is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Lightspeed Commerce Inc.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Appian Corporation could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Lightspeed Commerce Inc.	LSPD	D
Appian Corporation	APPN	A

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 40, which is Negative. Appian Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 89, which is Very Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Appian Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Appian Corporation has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Lightspeed Commerce Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Appian Corporation could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation Grades

In addition to Quality, Estimate Revisions and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Lightspeed Commerce Inc. or Appian Corporation Stock?

Overall, Lightspeed Commerce Inc. stock has a Momentum Score of 35, Estimate Revisions Score of 40 and Quality Score of 78.

Appian Corporation stock has a Momentum Score of 88, Estimate Revisions Score of 89 and Quality Score of 82.

Comparing Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Appian Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.