C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) Short Interest Up 38.2% in August

Key Points

• C3.ai experienced a significant rise in short interest of 38.2% in August, with total short shares reaching 32,680,000 as of August 15th.
• The company reported a loss of ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, missing estimates and reflecting a 19.4% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Recent analyst ratings for C3.ai show mixed sentiments, with ratings ranging from “Strong Buy” to “Underweight” and an average target price of $23.00.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 32,680,000 shares, anincreaseof38.2% from the July 31st total of 23,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Based on an average daily volume of 8,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

C3.ai Stock Performance

Shares of AI stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $15.72. 10,324,015 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,845,946. C3.ai has a 12 month low of $14.70 and a 12 month high of $45.08. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 1.96. The company's 50 day moving average price is $22.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.49.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.65). The business had revenue of $70.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.02 million. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 92.08% and a negative return on equity of 40.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.05) earnings per share. C3.ai has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that C3.ai will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at C3.ai

In other news, Director John E. Hyten sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $237,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 63,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,518,622.50. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas M. Siebel sold 601,498 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $15,049,479.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,816,802 shares in the company, valued at $95,496,386.04. This trade represents a 13.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,161,058 shares of company stock worth $50,480,751. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On C3.ai

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in C3.ai by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in C3.ai by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in C3.ai by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 25,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in C3.ai by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 2,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in C3.ai by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 14,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of C3.ai from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday. Westpark Capital raised shares of C3.ai to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of C3.ai from $18.00 to $10.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of C3.ai from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc operates as an enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides C3 AI platform, an application development and runtime environment that enables customers to design, develop, and deploy enterprise AI applications; C3 AI Ex Machina for analysis-ready data; C3 AI CRM, an industry specific customer relationship management solution; and C3 Generative AI Product Suite that enables to locate, retrieve, and present information.

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