There's a lot of rising stars in the ASX tech sector with some, such as Big Un Ltd (ASX: BIG) and GetSwift Ltd (ASX: GSW), offering shareholders returns beyond 1,000 per cent in the past year.
Still, it's hard to look past Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) as a standout tech company that has established itself as a leading player in its field.
And there are reasons to believe the Altium share price, currently sitting at around $13.89, could keep climbing in 2018.
Altium performed well in financial year (FY) 2017, ending the term with almost US$36 million in operating cash flow, up 155 per cent on the previous year.
The printed circuit board designer, with a market value of $1.8 billion, also boosted its profit to US$28 million, up 22 per cent on the previous year while revenue increased by 18 per cent to about US$111 million.
Additionally, the company is forecasting that its revenue will increase to US$200 million by 2020.
And that's a statement that Altium seems likely to be able to back up.
The tech company made a similar assertion in 2014 when it set itself a US$100 million revenue target to be achieved by 2017.
As the figures above demonstrate, Altium this year surpassed that goal by almost US$11 million.
The company's increased revenue was largely derived from its board and systems division which saw revenue grow 15 per cent to US$91.4 million, with the Americas growing 12 per cent for the year.
Altium also has plans to expand in Europe and China.
The company's EMEA division also enjoyed growth, with revenue expanding by 18 per cent in FY 2017 and, with Altium this year acquiring its resellers in the Netherlands and the UK, there are reasons to expect growth to continue in that market.
Altium is also looking at expanding its presence in Spain and Italy.
But Altium seems to be placing a greater emphasis on expanding its operations in China where revenue grew by 26 per cent in FY 2017.
The company is targeting 20 per cent revenue growth from the lucrative Chinese market in the "foreseeable future" and is focussing efforts on licence compliance to do so.
All these intentions come under the umbrella of one big goal for Altium which is to achieve market leadership in PCB design, in terms of both dollars and licences, by 2020.
The Altium share price has climbed by more than 75 per cent this year.
While there are numerous tech companies that have provided far greater returns, few can be considered the real deal when compared to Altium.
Altium now has a solid foundation and is in a commanding position to realise its goals.
As such, the Altium share price could keep climbing in the years to come.
