C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $26.44, but opened at $24.95. C3.ai shares last traded at $24.28, with a volume of 3,244,143 shares trading hands.

The company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $98.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.12 million. C3.ai had a negative net margin of 79.17% and a negative return on equity of 31.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $40.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of C3.ai from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of C3.ai from $23.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of C3.ai from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard C. Levin sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.84, for a total value of $358,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 161,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,824,053.76. The trade was a 6.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas M. Siebel sold 552,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $18,252,022.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,336,968 shares in the company, valued at $44,173,422.72. This represents a 29.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,643,311 shares of company stock valued at $59,736,620. 33.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of C3.ai

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AI. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in C3.ai during the 4th quarter worth about $42,306,000. Man Group plc bought a new stake in C3.ai during the 4th quarter worth about $38,455,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in C3.ai during the 4th quarter worth about $30,725,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in C3.ai by 1,242.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 718,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,729,000 after purchasing an additional 664,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of C3.ai by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,935,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,385,000 after acquiring an additional 446,529 shares during the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

C3.ai Trading Down 7.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.84 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.59.

About C3.ai

C3.ai, Inc operates as an enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides C3 AI platform, an application development and runtime environment that enables customers to design, develop, and deploy enterprise AI applications; C3 AI Ex Machina for analysis-ready data; C3 AI CRM, an industry specific customer relationship management solution; and C3 Generative AI Product Suite that enables to locate, retrieve, and present information.