TLDR
- C3.ai reported revenue of $52.4 million for the quarter ending July, narrowly beating the $52.1 million analyst estimate
- Adjusted loss came in at 20 cents per share, better than the expected 26 cent loss
- Revenue fell 27% year-over-year from $70.3 million
- Current-quarter revenue guidance of $51M-$55M came in below analyst estimates of $56.6 million
- Stock was down 1% at $10.42 in premarket trading Thursday, and is down 23% so far this year
C3.ai stock was trading at $10.42 in premarket Thursday, down around 1%, after the company posted quarterly results that beat estimates but missed on guidance.
Revenue for the quarter ending July 31 came in at $52.4 million, just above the $52.1 million Wall Street expected. The adjusted loss per share was 20 cents, better than the 26 cent loss analysts had penciled in.
That sounds like a win on paper. But the market wasn’t buying it.
The bigger issue was the full Refinitiv earnings summary, which put the adjusted loss at 33 cents per share. That missed the mean analyst estimate of 26 cents and came in well outside the expected range of negative 28 to negative 24 cents.
$AI C3 Q1’27 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS
🔹 Revenue: $52.4M (Est. $52.1M) 🟢
🔹 Adj. EPS: -$0.20 (Est. -$0.26) 🟢
🔹 Non-GAAP Loss from Operations: -$36.2M (Est. -$44.2M) 🟢
🔹 Free Cash Flow: $2.1M (Est. -$26.6M) 🟢FY27 Guide:
🔹 Revenue: $210M-$240M (Est. $224M) 🟡
🔹 Non-GAAP Loss…— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) September 2, 2026
Revenue also fell 27% year-over-year, dropping from $70.3 million in the same quarter last year to $51.3 million.
CEO Thomas Siebel tried to frame it positively. “The Company has done exactly what a disciplined, focused turnaround should do,” he said in the earnings release.
Subscription revenue, which makes up the bulk of C3.ai’s business, came in at $49.2 million. That was up less than 2% from the April quarter but down sharply from $60.3 million a year ago.
Guidance Disappoints
For the current quarter, C3.ai guided revenue of $51 million to $55 million. Analysts were expecting $56.6 million. The midpoint of that range falls short by roughly $3-4 million.
Full-year guidance was set at $210 million to $240 million. The midpoint of $225 million barely clears the analyst consensus of $224.3 million.
Siebel returned to the CEO role in early May after stepping down last July to treat an autoimmune disease that affected his vision. He acknowledged his health issues had impacted company sales during that period.
The stock hasn’t closed above $20 since last August and is down 20% in 2026. Its all-time closing high was $177 back in 2020.
Analyst Sentiment Cautious
Wall Street remains skeptical. The current average analyst rating is “hold,” with 1 buy, 7 holds and 6 sell or strong sell recommendations. The peer group average is “buy.”
The median 12-month price target sits at $9.00, around 17% below the last closing price of $10.52.
The mean earnings estimate had risen about 30% in the last three months, but one analyst negatively revised their estimate in the last 30 days.
C3.ai stock had risen 13.8% during the reported quarter before the earnings release.
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