C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Shares of C3.ai carry an average broker recommendation of "Reduce" from 15 analysts (6 sell, 7 hold, 1 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $15.87 and several firms cutting targets to around $7.
• Recent results showed weak fundamentals—Q earnings missed (EPS -$0.40 vs. -$0.29 est.), revenue of $53.3M missed the $75.9M consensus and was down 46.1% year‑over‑year—leaving the company with large losses and negative margins.
• Potential catalysts include the new low‑code "C3 Code" platform and growing federal AI contract demand, but sentiment is tempered by insider selling (chairman and CFO) and multiple analyst downgrades.

Shares of C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.8667.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AI. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of C3.ai from $13.00 to $7.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets set a $7.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of C3.ai from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of C3.ai from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on C3.ai from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th.

Key C3.ai News

Here are the key news stories impacting C3.ai this week:

• Positive Sentiment: C3.ai launched "C3 Code," a low‑code, agentic AI platform that converts plain‑English requirements into production enterprise apps — a product catalyst that could accelerate deal velocity and expand addressable spend if enterprises adopt it. C3.ai Launches C3 Code Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Federal contracting momentum: recent headlines about Pentagon AI deals highlight demand for government AI suppliers — a favorable demand channel for C3.ai’s federal/government business. After Pentagon Inks Deal With AI Firms
• Positive Sentiment: Short‑term buying: the shares recently closed higher in the latest session, suggesting renewed momentum that can attract momentum traders and options flows. C3.ai Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
• Neutral Sentiment: Geopolitical talk on AI governance: reports that the U.S. and China are weighing official AI discussions could eventually reduce regulatory uncertainty, but near‑term impact on revenue is unclear. US, China Weigh Launch of Official Discussions on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds from chip strength: KOSPI/semiconductor gains driven by AI chip demand support the broader AI ecosystem (infrastructure and cloud spend), an indirect positive for software vendors like C3.ai. South Korea ETFs Under Spotlight as Kospi Tops 7000
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Chairman Thomas Siebel sold 27,210 shares to cover tax withholding on vested awards — the company says it was tax‑related, but insider sales can weigh on sentiment. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Weak fundamentals: C3.ai’s last quarterly report showed a large revenue miss and a significant year‑over‑year revenue decline, plus persistent losses and several analyst downgrades — key reasons for continued valuation pressure until growth and margins improve. Is C3.ai Stock Ready to Burn the Bears?

C3.ai Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AI opened at $9.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 2.00. C3.ai has a 52-week low of $7.68 and a 52-week high of $30.24. The firm's fifty day moving average is $8.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.12.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.11). C3.ai had a negative net margin of 141.35% and a negative return on equity of 55.40%. The company had revenue of $53.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 46.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that C3.ai will post -3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Thomas M. Siebel sold 27,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.27, for a total value of $252,236.70. Following the sale, the chairman owned 748,277 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,936,527.79. This represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 15,248 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $136,927.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 238,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,140,005.84. This trade represents a 6.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,622,783 shares of company stock valued at $15,513,925 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of C3.ai

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of C3.ai by 683.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in C3.ai by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in C3.ai by 76.4% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,849 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its stake in C3.ai by 839.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,423 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 38.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc is a leading enterprise software provider focused on delivering scalable artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to large organizations. The company's core offering, the C3 AI Suite, is a comprehensive, model-driven platform that unifies data ingestion, model development, and application deployment. Through its suite of tools, C3.ai enables customers to accelerate digital transformation initiatives by applying advanced machine learning, predictive analytics, and AI-driven insights across a broad range of business functions.

The C3 AI Suite provides a low-code environment for data scientists and application developers to rapidly design, test, and deploy enterprise-scale AI applications.

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