Is the Appen (ASX:APX) share price on the comeback trail?

From struggle street to the comeback trail, are Appen shares about to bounce back?

Sebastian Bowen

Author Bio Sebastian Bowen has been a Motley Fool contributor since late 2018. Sebastian found his passion for writing and educating others about shares and all things finance after completing his studies in political, economic and social science and enjoys bringing this passion to life at the Fool. His investment philosophy is a simple one – buying high-quality companies at prices that make sense. When he’s not researching his next investment at all hours of the morning, Sebastian enjoys classic movies and likes to unwind with a good book, newspaper or record. Areas of Expertise Dividend investing ETFs Education Bachelor of Political, Economic, and Social Sciences (Government and International Relations), University of Sydney Social Media X/Twitter Favorite Investment Quote "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." – Benjamin Graham

Published March 24, 2022 12:15 pm AEDT

It's been a rough year for many shares on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in 2022 so far. The ASX 200 remains down around 3% so far this year, which tells us that many shares have failed to break over the year to date. One of the ASX 200's more disappointing performers has been the Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price.

At the time of writing tody. Appen is down by 1.13% at $6.99 a share. That puts it at a dismal loss of 37.6% in 2022 alone. Over the past 12 months, Appen shares are now down by a sobering 61.8%.

Yes despite these clouds of gloom over the Appen share price, there has also been a more recent silver lining for the annotated dataset company. It was exactly a month ago today that Appen found a new 52-week low of $6.08 a share. Since then, the company has gone on to add almost 14% to its share price.

So could this mean Appen shares are on the comeback trail? After all, Appen used to be known as one of the WAAAX market darling growth shares.

One young boy jumps off a step ladder and is captured mid-air about to land on a see-saw where his friend is standing with a wide smile on his face looking at the camera and holding his thumbs up as though he is excited for the ride to come. Both boys are wearing business suits. — Imge source: Getty Images

Is the Appen share price a buy today?

Well, one investing expert certainly thinks so. That would be Ben Clark, portfolio manager at TMS Capital.

Interviewed by Livewire, Mr Clark named Appen as one of seven ASX shares "for when the market comes roaring back". Although Clark acknowledged that Appen's most recent results were disappointing, he is still bullish on the company's long-term prospects. Here's some of what he had to say on Appen:

They're so far above every analyst's expectation of where they'll be in five years. I would also say there was a reaction like, 'Oh they're going to take weaker margins to try and grow the revenue line harder on the core'. The CEO was actually adamant that wasn't going to happen. So, there's sort of a bit of confusion there.

We're sticking with it. It's a business that we skim some time ago, a few years ago, and that we've added to in more recent years, it's a fairly small holding, but I still think that there's a good business there.

So a comeback trail might be what is in store for Appen going forward, if Mr Clark is to be believed. No doubt Appen's recently-suffering shareholders would hope so. But we shall have to wait and see, as always.

At the current Appen share price, this ASX 200 tech share has a market capitalisation of $872.3 million, with a dividend yield of 1.44%

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