C3.ai Shares Swoon As Guidance Disappoints

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Shares of the artificial intelligence software company

C3.ai

are trading sharply lower late on Wednesday, after the company provided disappointing guidance for the July quarter and the full fiscal year ending in April 2023.

For the quarter ended April 30, 2022, C3.ai (ticker: AI) posted revenue of $72.3 million, up 38% from a year ago, and just ahead of the Street consensus forecast at $71.3 million. That boosted full year revenue to $252.8 million, also up 38%, and a little above the company’s guidance range of $251 million to $252 million.

C3.ai posted a non-GAAP loss in the quarter of 21 cents a share, narrower than the Street consensus forecast for a loss of 29 cents a share. Under generally accepted accounting principles, the company lost 55 cents a share. Remaining performance obligations at year end were $477.4 million, up 62% from a year ago. 

Guidance came up short of Street estimates, triggering the late selloff. For the July quarter, C3.ai sees revenue of $65 million to $67 million, falling well shy of the Street consensus at $74.4 million. The company is projecting fiscal 2023 revenue of $308 million to $316 million, below the old Street consensus at $333.9 million.

Founded by pioneering software entrepreneur Tom Siebel, C3.ai has had a rough ride in the public market. The company priced its initial public offering in December 2020 at $42 a share, and opened for trading at $100. A few weeks later, the stock rose to as high as $183.90 on an intraday basis, but the stock has been gradually sinking ever since, reflecting a sharp contraction in the market’s willingness to pay high premiums for high-growth companies operating in the red. In late trading, the stock is off nearly 20%, to $14.90. For the year to date through Wednesday’s close, the stock was off 40%.

Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]