C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $23.02, but opened at $26.59. C3.ai shares last traded at $29.66, with a volume of 10,666,460 shares trading hands.

The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.04. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 79.17% and a negative return on equity of 31.31%. The company had revenue of $108.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. C3.ai's revenue for the quarter was up 25.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AI shares. KeyCorp restated a "mixed" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $56.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $25.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.46.

Insider Transactions at C3.ai

In related news, CEO Thomas M. Siebel sold 216,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total transaction of $4,747,391.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 726,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,888,752.76. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Merel Witteveen sold 5,719 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.32, for a total transaction of $133,367.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $281,379.12. The trade was a 32.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,529,519 shares of company stock worth $34,038,096 in the last quarter. 33.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C3.ai

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AI. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in C3.ai by 70.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 55,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,905,000 after buying an additional 22,949 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in C3.ai by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in C3.ai during the fourth quarter valued at about $633,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in C3.ai by 344.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in C3.ai by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.96% of the company's stock.

C3.ai Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -12.03 and a beta of 1.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.29.

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.