C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Key Points

• C3.ai reported Q4 earnings of ($0.33) per share, beating expectations by $0.05, while revenue came in at $51.6 million and matched analyst estimates.
• The quarter remained deeply unprofitable, with a $54.4 million non-GAAP operating loss and negative free cash flow of $54.8 million, as revenue fell 52.5% year over year.
• Management said it has completed a major restructuring that cut headcount to about 700 and removed roughly $135 million in annual operating costs, while issuing fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $210 million to $240 million.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $51.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.60 million. C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 55.40% and a negative net margin of 141.35%.C3.ai's quarterly revenue was down 52.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from C3.ai's conference call:

• C3.ai posted Q4 revenue of $51.6 million, with a non-GAAP operating loss of $54.4 million and negative free cash flow of $54.8 million, underscoring continued profitability and cash burn challenges.
• Management said it has completed a major restructuring, cutting headcount from about 1,075 to roughly 700 and taking out about $135 million in annual operating costs.
• The company closed the quarter with $575.4 million in cash and marketable securities, and later noted the balance rose to $673 million after CEO Tom Siebel purchased 6.17 million shares for about $69 million.
• Leadership repeatedly characterized the business performance as a sales execution failure, saying the company has focused too narrowly and that revenue growth, RPO, and cash generation have all been hurt by weak go-to-market execution.
• For fiscal 2027, C3.ai guided to $210 million-$240 million in revenue and a non-GAAP operating loss of $128 million-$160 million, while saying it expects professional services to remain 10%-15% of total revenue and that the mix between licenses, PES, and demos is still hard to predict.

C3.ai Stock Performance

Shares of C3.ai stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.71. 18,883,112 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,288,122. C3.ai has a 52-week low of $7.68 and a 52-week high of $30.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.40 and a beta of 2.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on C3.ai from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of C3.ai from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $12.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at C3.ai

In other C3.ai news, Director Jim H. Snabe purchased 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.00 per share, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 395,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,555,000. This trade represents a 6.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen Bradley Ehikian sold 52,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.22, for a total transaction of $429,034.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 721,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,930,606.70. This trade represents a 6.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,610,039 shares of company stock worth $13,935,574 in the last ninety days. 26.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On C3.ai

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of C3.ai by 8.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,560 shares of the company's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of C3.ai during the first quarter worth about $177,000. Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of C3.ai during the fourth quarter worth about $148,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai during the 4th quarter worth about $140,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai during the 4th quarter worth about $136,000. 38.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key C3.ai News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The company reported a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss of $0.33 per share, beating the consensus estimate of a $0.38 loss, which suggests some earnings progress even though results remained deeply negative. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue for the quarter matched Wall Street expectations at $51.6 million, and the company’s first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue outlook of $50 million to $54 million came in roughly in line with forecasts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: C3.ai also guided full-year fiscal 2027 revenue to $210 million to $240 million versus analyst expectations around $226.6 million, leaving investors to focus on whether growth can accelerate enough to justify the stock’s valuation. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Brokerage sentiment remains cautious, with the stock carrying a consensus “Reduce” rating, reinforcing concerns about the company’s growth trajectory and profitability. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage has continued to question C3.ai’s growth story and profitability, while broader valuation concerns have also pressured sentiment around the name. Article Title

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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