C3.ai Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AI)

Key Points

• Unusually high options activity was seen in C3.ai, with traders buying 76,266 call options on Thursday, about 58% above the stock’s typical daily call volume.
• Recent business results were mixed: preliminary fourth-quarter revenue was roughly in line with guidance and losses narrowed, but bookings missed expectations and the shares sold off after the update.
• Sentiment remains cautious despite a slightly higher price target from Canaccord Genuity, as multiple analysts still rate the stock Hold or Sell and company insiders have been selling shares.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 76,266 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 58% compared to the typical daily volume of 48,323 call options.

C3.ai News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary fourth-quarter revenue came in roughly in line with guidance and the company said its loss narrowed, suggesting some operational improvement. C3.ai Q4 Preliminary Results: Revenues Meet Expectations, Loss Narrows
• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on C3.ai to $8 from $7, indicating slightly improved expectations even though the firm kept a Hold rating. Canaccord Raises C3.ai Price Target as Tom Siebel Returns to the CEO Seat
• Neutral Sentiment: Tom Siebel has returned as CEO less than a year after stepping down, signaling a reset in leadership as the company works through restructuring. Tom Siebel returns as C3.ai CEO less than a year after stepping down
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market coverage highlights continued investor interest in AI-related stocks, which may provide some support to sentiment for enterprise AI names. S&P 500 Headed for Massive Highs Ahead? ETFs in Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Bookings missed expectations in the preliminary report, and the shares were already down sharply after the update, underscoring ongoing concerns about demand and execution. C3.ai Q4 Preliminary Results: Revenues Meet Expectations, Loss Narrows
• Negative Sentiment: DA Davidson reiterated an Underperform rating and a $7 price target, implying downside from recent trading levels. DA Davidson rating and price target update

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AI shares. Bank of America set a $10.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "reduce" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on C3.ai from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets set a $7.00 price target on C3.ai in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered C3.ai from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $15.93.

C3.ai Stock Performance

AI stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,858,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,099,306. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -2.82 and a beta of 2.00. C3.ai has a 12 month low of $7.68 and a 12 month high of $30.24. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $8.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.87.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $53.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.91 million. C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 55.40% and a negative net margin of 141.35%.The business's revenue was down 46.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that C3.ai will post -3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Thomas M. Siebel sold 326,189 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total value of $2,710,630.59. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 722,362 shares in the company, valued at $6,002,828.22. This trade represents a 31.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Stephen Bradley Ehikian sold 52,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.22, for a total transaction of $429,034.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 721,485 shares in the company, valued at $5,930,606.70. The trade was a 6.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,111,051 shares of company stock worth $9,547,130 over the last three months. 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. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai in the first quarter valued at $306,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of C3.ai by 67.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,215,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,233,000 after buying an additional 488,710 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of C3.ai by 2.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 258,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of C3.ai by 0.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 690,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631 shares during the period. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of C3.ai in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,686,000. 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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