• Earlier this year, C3.ai reported a significant first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue miss, prompting the CEO’s resignation and the appointment of a new chief executive, which coincided with investor lawsuits alleging misleading statements about growth and leadership health.
• Despite these corporate challenges, the company has continued to win substantial contracts, including a US$450 million expansion with the U.S. Air Force and new partnerships in the utilities and technology sectors.
• We'll explore how C3.ai's leadership shake-up and recent legal actions alter the company's investment outlook and risk profile.

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C3.ai Investment Narrative Recap

To own shares of C3.ai, an investor must believe the company’s enterprise AI offerings can overcome ongoing financial losses and recent management turnover to become a trusted platform for large-scale AI deployments. The recent earnings miss, leadership change, and class action lawsuit increase near-term uncertainty, with the biggest catalyst now being whether the new CEO can quickly restore growth and margin confidence, while the greatest risk remains continued weak revenue trajectory and execution issues.

Among recent announcements, the US$450 million expansion with the U.S. Air Force is particularly important, as it highlights demand for C3.ai’s technology in a key vertical. This contract signals that despite internal challenges, significant customers are deepening commitments, a development that may prove crucial as the company seeks to convert pilot projects into lasting, recurring revenues.

Yet in contrast to contract wins, investors should also be mindful of recent execution setbacks and the lawsuit alleging misleading guidance about...

C3.ai's narrative projects $613.6 million revenue and $80.3 million earnings by 2028. This requires 16.4% yearly revenue growth and a $369 million increase in earnings from -$288.7 million.

Uncover how C3.ai's forecasts yield a $14.67 fair value, a 20% downside to its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Fifteen members of the Simply Wall St Community valued C3.ai from US$13 up to US$42.60 per share. However, current analyst consensus points to persistent unprofitability and negative cash flow, potentially impacting the company’s ability to achieve sustained growth. Explore how your outlook compares.

Explore 15 other fair value estimates on C3.ai - why the stock might be worth over 2x more than the current price!

Build Your Own C3.ai Narrative

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your C3.ai research is our analysis highlighting 3 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free C3.ai research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate C3.ai's overall financial health at a glance.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.