C3.ai, Inc.
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Yellow, because the turnaround is unproven: revenue collapsed 36 percent in fiscal 2026, gross margin halved, new customers contributed only about 1 percent of subscription revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, and guidance for fiscal 2027 is lower still. It is not red, because no substance risk is documented: $651.1 million in cash and securities with no financial debt, positive operating cash flow in the first quarter, and no going-concern doubt. At a little more than five times revenue, the market is mainly pricing in hope for the turnaround. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
C3.ai is a textbook case of the captain trap: founder Thomas Siebel has been back since May 2026 and invested $68.8 million of his own money. But revenue fell 36 percent in fiscal 2026, almost no revenue came from new customers in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, and guidance sits below last year. $651 million in cash buys time for a turnaround — it hasn’t been proven yet. Not investment advice.
Revenue trend
FY2026 revenue (ended 04/30/2026) $250.3M after $389.1M (−36%); Q1 FY2027 $52.4M (−25%); FY2027 guidance $210M to $240M.
New business
Only about 1% of Q1 FY2027 subscription revenue from new customers (prior year 32%); remaining performance obligations $200.0M (07/31/2026) after $203.1M (04/30/2026).
Liquidity
$651.1M in cash and securities (07/31/2026), no financial debt; operating cash flow Q1 FY2027 +$2.1M after −$190.2M in FY2026.
Costs & dilution
Gross margin FY2026 31% after 61%; stock-based compensation Q1 FY2027 $59.2M on $52.4M of revenue; weighted-average share count +14.5% year over year.
Leadership & control
Founder Siebel CEO again since 05/08/2026, 48.9% of voting power (07/31/2026), $68.8M of his own money for an option exercise on 06/01/2026; class action over his health refiled after dismissal.
Worth Noting
C3.ai made our research list through our in-house Reddit hype scanner (Reddit hype run of November 7, 2026).
The fiscal year ends April 30; FY2026 = May 2025 through April 2026, Q1 FY2027 = May through July 2026. The 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2026 had not been filed as of November 7, 2026.
Quarterly revenue for Q4 FY2025 ($108.7M) and Q4 FY2026 ($51.6M) from the earnings release (8-K, Exhibit 99.1) of June 3, 2026; other quarters from the 10-Qs and XBRL data.
Market cap calculated independently: 160,779,856 shares (157,279,864 Class A + 3,499,992 Class B, 10-Q cover page, 08/31/2026) × $11.69 close (11/06/2026) = $1.880B; matches the fundamental data. Revenue for the last four quarters: 75.1 + 53.3 + 51.6 + 52.4 = $232.4M.
Siebel’s option exercise: 6,166,667 × $11.16 = $68.8M (Form 4 of 06/03/2026, transaction 06/01/2026, options expiring 08/26/2030). Sales under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan (adopted 09/20/2024) between 05/15 and 07/15/2026: 1,416,208 shares (Forms 4 of 05/19, 06/15 and 07/16/2026).
Short interest (about 42.2M shares, roughly 28% of the free float) and analyst ratings from fundamental data retrieved 11/07/2026; the data does not state a reporting date.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of November 7, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at AI since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 7.80 $ to 16.10 $ · Last price: 11.70 $ (As of: November 6, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 11/07/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Software - Infrastructure
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C3.ai, Inc. AI | 1.9 | – | -2.3 | 29.1 | -186.3 | -35.7 | -23.0 |
| Microsoft Corporation MSFT | 3,872.0 | 32.8 | 17.6 | 67.7 | 46.3 | 14.9 | 7.6 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR | 393.8 | 173.0 | 173.8 | 84.8 | 46.2 | 56.2 | -8.4 |
| Oracle Corporation ORCL | 335.6 | 19.3 | 14.5 | 64.0 | 36.2 | 17.4 | -51.7 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW | 255.8 | 248.1 | 223.5 | 70.4 | -2.5 | 14.9 | 48.5 |
| Crowdstrike Holdings Inc CRWD | 219.1 | – | 621.7 | 75.2 | -2.2 | 21.7 | 62.9 |
| Cloudflare Inc NET | 92.6 | – | 2,840.5 | 72.6 | -9.7 | 29.9 | 7.0 |
| Synopsys Inc SNPS | 86.3 | 90.3 | 25.9 | 82.9 | 10.4 | 15.1 | 13.7 |
| Fortinet Inc FTNT | 85.5 | 41.7 | 32.4 | 79.8 | 31.3 | 14.2 | 47.6 |
| Median of companies shown | 219.1 | 66.0 | 32.4 | 72.6 | 10.4 | 15.1 | 7.6 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 92 | -36 | -33 | -0.45 | -35 | -165 | 267 |
| 2020 | 157 | -72 | -69 | -0.73 | -61 | -183 | 305 |
| 2021 | 183 | -60 | -56 | -0.98 | -38 | 1,061 | 1,196 |
| 2022 | 253 | -196 | -192 | -1.84 | -86 | 989 | 1,171 |
| 2023 | 267 | -290 | -269 | -2.45 | -116 | 930 | 1,103 |
| 2024 | 311 | -318 | -280 | -2.34 | -62 | 873 | 1,038 |
| 2025 | 389 | -324 | -289 | -2.24 | -41 | 838 | 1,026 |
| 2026 | 250 | -488 | -470 | -3.35 | -189 | 654 | 816 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | -0.06 | 53.80 | 94 | 28.80 | -69.90 | -39 | -40 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.12 | 7.70 | 99 | 26.00 | -81.20 | -22 | -22 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.16 | -45.50 | 109 | 25.60 | -73.30 | 11 | 10 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.37 | -640.00 | 70 | -19.40 | -166.20 | -34 | -34 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.25 | -316.70 | 75 | -20.30 | -139.30 | -47 | -47 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.40 | -233.30 | 53 | -46.10 | -250.40 | -56 | -56 |
| 2026: Q2 | -0.33 | -106.30 | 52 | -52.50 | -224.00 | -53 | -53 |
| 2026: Q3 | -0.60 | -62.20 | 52 | -25.50 | -177.20 | 2 | 2 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 5 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Risk & Weakness
- Below the 50- & 200-SMA
- Stage 4 (Downtrend)
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 4
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 4B-
- Weakness Cluster
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/30/2027 | -0.76 | -0.82 – -0.72 | 222 | 43.7% | 13 |
| 04/30/2028 | -0.47 | -0.74 – -0.28 | 246 | 38.1% | 12 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
C3.ai verkauft KI-Software als Kerngeschäft: Laut Geschäftsbericht (10-K) für das Geschäftsjahr bis 30.04.2026 ist das Unternehmen „das Softwareunternehmen für KI-Anwendungen in Großunternehmen“, und laut Quartalsbericht (10-Q) zum 31.07.2026 stammen 94 % des Umsatzes aus Abonnements dieser KI-Plattform und KI-Anwendungen — KI ist hier das Produkt, nicht bloß ein Werkzeug.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„C3 AI is the Enterprise AI application software company."
C3 AI ist das Softwareunternehmen für KI-Anwendungen in Großunternehmen.
10-K · 2026-06-24 · View SEC filing
„Our model-driven architecture and generative AI agents framework enables us and our customers to rapidly address new use cases by building new applications and extending and enhancing the features and functionality of current C3 AI Software."
Unsere modellgetriebene Architektur und unser Rahmenwerk für generative KI-Agenten ermöglichen es uns und unseren Kunden, neue Anwendungsfälle schnell zu erschließen, indem neue Anwendungen gebaut und Funktionen der bestehenden C3-AI-Software erweitert und verbessert werden.
10-Q · 2026-09-09 · View SEC filing
„We generate revenue primarily from the sale of subscriptions, which accounted for 94% and 86% of our total revenue in the three months ended July 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively."
Unseren Umsatz erzielen wir überwiegend aus dem Verkauf von Abonnements, die in den drei Monaten bis zum 31. Juli 2026 beziehungsweise 2025 jeweils 94 % und 86 % unseres Gesamtumsatzes ausmachten.
10-Q · 2026-09-09 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-09-09 · 10-K 2026-06-24 · 10-Q 2026-03-11 · 10-Q 2025-12-09 · 10-Q 2025-09-09 · 10-K 2025-06-23
Rated on November 7, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -2.1%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -77.3%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 8.6%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") -111.9%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 30.9%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.1%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 570 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 746 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago -68.7%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 8.2%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
2/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 15.4%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% -0.9%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% -0.9%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT –
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 0
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% –
- Return on equity > 15% -72.0%
- ROCE > 15% -68.7%
- Expected return > 10% -11.0%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26, 2026 | Clayville Michael Wayne | Director | Other | 27,365 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Goldman Kenneth A | Director | Other | 54,730 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Hyten John E. | Director | Other | 27,365 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Mccaffery Michael G | Director | Other | 30,883 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Murray Alan S | Director | Other | 54,730 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Sewell D Bruce | Director | Other | 28,928 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Sridhar KR | Director | Other | 27,365 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Levin Richard C | Director | Other | 27,365 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Ward Jr Stephen M | Director | Other | 28,928 | 0.00 | – |
| Oct 15, 2026 | Hyten John E. | Director | Other | 2,500 | 12.16 | 30,400 |
The company
About the Company
C3.ai, Inc. operates as an enterprise artificial intelligence application software company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It offers C3 agentic AI platform, an application development and runtime environment that enables customers to design, develop, and deploy enterprise AI applications; C3 AI Studio, an integrated development environment in the C3 Agentic AI Platform that enables engineers, data scientists, and business analysts to design, build, test, and deploy AI applications; C3 AI Applications, a portfolio of industry-specific enterprise AI applications that enables the digital transformation of organizations globally; and C3 Generative AI, a library of agentic AI applications to retrieve data, analyze information, surface insights, and orchestrate workflows. The company also provides C3 Code, a solution that enables users to build, configure, and deploy a complete and production-grade Enterprise AI applications automatically, including data pipelines, AI models, business logic, security controls, and user interfaces. It has strategic partnerships with Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, McKinsey & Company, and Baker Hughes. The company was formerly known as C3 IoT, Inc. and changed its name to C3.ai, Inc. in June 2019. C3.ai, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.
- CEO Insider Trades (12 Mo.)
- selling own stock
- Employees
- 764
- Headquarters
- Redwood City, CA
- Address
- 1400 Seaport Boulevard, 94063 Redwood City, United States
- Phone
- 650 503 2200
- Website
- c3.ai
- IPO Date
- 12/09/2020
- ISIN
- US12468P1049
- Stock Split
- 1:20 on 10/07/2009
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas M. Siebel | Founder, CEO & Executive Chairman | 1953 |
| Stephen Ehikian | President | 1982 |
| Hitesh Lath | Senior VP & CFO and Chief Administrative Officer | 1978 |
| Jim Hagemann Snabe | Special Advisor to CEO & Director ( Leave of Absence ) | 1965 |
| Merel Witteveen | Senior Vice President of Operations | 1985 |
| Amit Berry | Senior Director of Investor Relations | – |
| Thomas L. MacMitchell Esq. | Senior Vice President & General Counsel | – |
| Edward Y. Abbo | Executive VP & CTO | 1965 |
| Scott Weber | Senior VP & GM of AI Federal Systems | 1964 |
| Nikhil Krishnan | CTO & Chief AI Officer | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 10/30/2026 C3.ai, Inc. (AI): Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders SEC ↗
- 09/02/2026 C3.ai, Inc. (AI): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/27/2026 C3.ai, Inc. (AI): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers SEC ↗
- 07/17/2026 C3.ai, Inc. (AI): Other Events SEC ↗
Data as of: November 6, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.