C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Reaches New 52-Week Low After Earnings Miss

Key Points

• C3.ai shares fell to a new 52-week low of $14.37 following an earnings report that missed analyst expectations, with a reported EPS of ($0.86) compared to the consensus of ($0.21).
• For the quarter, C3.ai's revenue was $70.26 million, significantly below the expected $104.02 million, marking a 19.4% decline year-over-year.
• Analysts have revised price targets for C3.ai, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a target price averaging at $24.21, reflecting a cautious outlook on the company's performance.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $14.37 and last traded at $15.25, with a volume of 2192852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.68.

The company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.65). C3.ai had a negative net margin of 92.08% and a negative return on equity of 40.06%. The business had revenue of $70.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) earnings per share. C3.ai's revenue was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. C3.ai has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on C3.ai from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of C3.ai from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of C3.ai from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Westpark Capital raised shares of C3.ai to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, C3.ai currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Insider Activity at C3.ai

In related news, VP Merel Witteveen sold 5,485 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.95, for a total transaction of $131,365.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 13,740 shares in the company, valued at $329,073. This represents a 28.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas M. Siebel sold 601,498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,816,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,496,386.04. This represents a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,162,768 shares of company stock worth $50,525,604 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of C3.ai

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in shares of C3.ai in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Marex Group plc acquired a new position in shares of C3.ai during the second quarter worth about $250,000. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in C3.ai by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 82,569 shares of the company's stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 6,823 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in C3.ai during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in C3.ai by 601.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 21,794 shares of the company's stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 18,686 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.96% of the company's stock.

C3.ai Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -5.99 and a beta of 1.96. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $22.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.64.

C3.ai Company Profile

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.