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

Key Points

• Unusually heavy options activity: Traders bought 190,828 C3.ai call options, 407% above the typical daily volume, while shares fell 4.1% to open at $10.45.
• C3.ai reported a quarterly loss of $0.20 per share, better than estimates, and revenue of $52.38 million, slightly above expectations; however, revenue declined 25.4% year over year and profitability remained deeply negative.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: The stock carries a consensus “Reduce” rating, with one Buy, four Hold and seven Sell ratings and an average price target of $8.70. Insiders have also sold approximately $13.3 million of stock over the past 90 days, primarily to cover tax obligations.

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 190,828 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 407% compared to the typical daily volume of 37,636 call options.

C3.ai Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE AI opened at $10.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.39 and a beta of 2.10. C3.ai has a one year low of $7.68 and a one year high of $20.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.43.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $52.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.06 million. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 192.10% and a negative return on equity of 60.82%. The business's revenue was down 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.37) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that C3.ai will post -2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at C3.ai

In other C3.ai news, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 48,619 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.77, for a total value of $426,388.63. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 383,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,359,839.62. This trade represents a 11.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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. Also, CEO Stephen Ehikian sold 50,542 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total value of $477,621.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 651,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,153,178.50. This represents a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,258,650 shares of company stock worth $13,258,862. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of C3.ai

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in C3.ai by 267.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 181,354 shares of the company's stock worth $3,788,000 after purchasing an additional 132,056 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of C3.ai in the 1st quarter worth approximately $346,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $5,111,000 after buying an additional 10,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of C3.ai by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 59,004 shares of the company's stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AI. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of C3.ai from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp restated a "market perform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of C3.ai in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of C3.ai from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, C3.ai presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $8.70.

More C3.ai News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bookings surged 73% sequentially in fiscal Q1 2027, helped by sales-force restructuring and renewed demand. C3.ai signed 22 new customer agreements, including Ford and several U.S. government agencies, while federal-sector bookings rose 138% year over year. C3.ai Posts 73% Bookings Growth As Free Cash Flow Turns Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Free cash flow returned to positive territory, and the company retains approximately $650 million in cash. That liquidity gives C3.ai additional time to execute its turnaround and pursue enterprise and government opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: C3.ai reported a quarterly loss of $0.20 per share, better than the expected $0.26 loss, while revenue of $52.38 million modestly exceeded estimates. Seeking Alpha upgraded the stock to Buy, citing stronger bookings and founder Thomas Siebel’s renewed leadership. C3.ai: Early Turnaround Signals Are Here
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Thomas Siebel sold 16,890 shares worth about $174,000 to cover tax withholding tied to equity vesting. The sale reduced his direct ownership by 2.24%, but its stated purpose makes it a weaker bearish signal than a discretionary insider sale. C3.ai CEO Thomas Siebel Sells Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell approximately 25% year over year to $52.4 million, and subscription revenue also declined. Management’s fiscal 2027 revenue outlook of $210 million to $240 million is broadly cautious, while quarterly revenue guidance of $53 million came in below analyst expectations. C3.ai Posts Sales In Line but Guidance Misses Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains unfavorable: Canaccord reiterated Hold with a $10 target, Citizens JMP and Citigroup maintained Market Perform, while DA Davidson and UBS kept Underperform ratings. The reported consensus rating is Reduce, with an average target of $8.70.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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