C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Stock Price Down 4.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• C3.ai shares fell 4.5% on Wednesday, with trading volume well below average, as the stock slipped to about $10.44 after closing at $10.93 the prior day.
• Sentiment remains cautious: analysts have a consensus rating of “Reduce,” with several firms keeping hold/neutral views and JPMorgan maintaining an underweight rating and a lower price target.
• Recent results and insider sales are weighing on the stock. While C3.ai beat earnings estimates last quarter, revenue was down sharply year over year, and CEO Thomas Siebel’s recent share sale added to investor concern.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) traded down 4.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $10.52 and last traded at $10.4350. 1,418,434 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 6,437,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.93.

Key Stories Impacting C3.ai

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

• Positive Sentiment: Shares were lifted by a broader rally in AI and software names after falling Treasury yields and easing geopolitical risk improved valuation support for long-duration growth stocks. C3.ai and Dynatrace Shares Are Soaring, What You Need To Know
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary highlighted C3.ai as a Q1 earnings outperformer within the data infrastructure group, reinforcing the idea that the company can outperform when results show improvement. Q1 Earnings Outperformers: C3.ai NYSE: AI And The Rest Of The Data Infrastructure Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad AI industry headlines continue to support the long-term theme around enterprise adoption, data foundations, and AI-related productivity gains, but they do not directly change C3.ai’s near-term fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling by CEO Thomas Siebel may weigh on sentiment, even though the trades were filed under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan and tied to tax withholding on vested equity awards. C3.ai NYSE: AI CEO Thomas Siebel Sells 23,570 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed to negative overall, with a consensus rating of “Reduce,” which suggests Wall Street is still skeptical about the stock’s upside from current levels.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on C3.ai from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on C3.ai from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on C3.ai from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $12.92.

C3.ai Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.15 and a beta of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.98.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 3rd. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.05. C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 60.20% and a negative net margin of 187.95%.The company had revenue of $51.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 52.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that C3.ai, Inc. will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $429,034.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 721,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,930,606.70. This trade represents a 6.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas M. Siebel sold 472,005 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total value of $5,243,975.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 722,362 shares in the company, valued at $8,025,441.82. The trade was a 39.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 1,565,434 shares of company stock worth $14,684,917 in the last 90 days. 26.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AI. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in C3.ai by 55.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,282,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,302 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in C3.ai by 77.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,804,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,284,000 after acquiring an additional 785,508 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in C3.ai in the third quarter valued at about $13,379,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai during the fourth quarter worth about $9,183,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 93,578.8% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 675,424 shares of the company's stock worth $9,105,000 after purchasing an additional 674,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.96% of the company's stock.

C3.ai Company Profile

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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