C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Stock Price Up 6.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares rose 6.5% on Wednesday to about $8.94 (intraday high $9.04), but trading volume was roughly 81% below the daily average, suggesting the move occurred on thin liquidity.
• C3.ai missed quarterly estimates — EPS ($0.40) vs. ($0.29) expected and revenue $53.26M vs. $75.91M expected (revenue down 46.1% YoY) — and the stock carries an average analyst rating of "Reduce" with a $15.87 average price target amid mixed sell-side views.
• Insider activity was mixed: director Jim H. Snabe bought 25,000 shares at $9.00 while the CFO sold 15,248 shares at $8.98; insiders have sold ~1.13M shares in the last quarter but still own 26.5% of the company.

Shares of C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) were up 6.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.04 and last traded at $8.9440. Approximately 1,245,649 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 6,501,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AI shares. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of C3.ai from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America set a $10.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $16.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $7.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, C3.ai has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $15.87.

C3.ai Trading Up 7.4%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $9.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 2.08.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.11). C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 55.40% and a negative net margin of 141.35%.The business had revenue of $53.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 46.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that C3.ai, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at C3.ai

In other C3.ai news, Director Jim H. Snabe purchased 25,000 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.00 per share, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 395,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,555,000. This represents a 6.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 15,248 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $136,927.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 238,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,005.84. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,131,711 shares of company stock valued at $11,446,257. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of C3.ai

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AI. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in C3.ai by 267.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 181,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,788,000 after purchasing an additional 132,056 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in C3.ai by 48.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in C3.ai in the 1st quarter valued at about $346,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in C3.ai by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 242,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 10,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in C3.ai by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 59,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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