C3.ai Inc. (AI) Stock: Shares Plunge on Weak Earnings and Revenue Miss

TLDR

Table of Contents

C3.ai reported Q1 loss of 37 cents per share on revenue of $70.3 million, missing analyst estimates of 21 cents loss and $93.88 million revenue
Executive Chairman Thomas Siebel called Q1 financial performance “completely unacceptable” due to sales team restructuring and his health issues limiting participation
New CEO Stephen Ehikian was appointed effective September 1st, replacing Siebel who stepped down due to autoimmune disease causing visual impairment
Q2 revenue guidance of $72-80 million falls well short of Wall Street’s $99.5 million estimate
Stock down 11% in after-hours trading and 52% year-to-date, continuing pattern of disappointing results

C3.ai stock took another beating as the enterprise AI software company delivered yet another quarter that left investors scratching their heads. The company’s first-quarter results were a mess by almost any measure.

The Redwood City-based firm posted an adjusted loss of 37 cents per share on revenue of $70.3 million. Wall Street had been looking for a smaller loss of 21 cents per share and much higher revenue of $93.88 million.

C3 AI, $AI, Q1-26. Results:
📊 Adj. EPS: -$0.37 🔴
💰 Revenue: $70.3M 🔴
📈 Net Loss: $116.8M
🔎 Company restructured its sales org and appointed a new CEO to drive growth following a disappointing quarter. pic.twitter.com/E5hUcTYUBl
— EarningsTime (@Earnings_Time) September 3, 2025

These numbers weren’t exactly a surprise though. C3.ai had already warned investors in mid-August that things were going poorly, causing the stock to crater 25% in a single day back then.

Executive Chairman Thomas Siebel didn’t mince words about the quarter. He called the financial performance “completely unacceptable” in the earnings release.

Siebel pointed to two main culprits for the disappointing results. The company spent the quarter overhauling its global sales and services team, which he said created disruption.

The second issue was more personal. Siebel has been dealing with an autoimmune disease that’s caused serious vision problems.

Leadership Shake-Up

This health challenge forced Siebel to step back from active sales participation. For a company where the founder has traditionally been heavily involved in closing deals, this created a real problem.

C3.ai announced in July that it was searching for Siebel’s replacement as CEO. That search is now complete.

Stephen Ehikian officially took over as CEO on September 1st. Ehikian comes from government service, having recently served as acting administrator of the General Services Administration under President Trump.

The company is betting that fresh leadership can turn things around. Siebel expressed confidence that the new team and completed restructuring will help accelerate growth going forward.

Guidance Disappointment

The forward-looking numbers weren’t any better than the quarterly results. C3.ai guided for second-quarter revenue between $72 million and $80 million.

That range falls well short of what analysts were expecting. The Street had penciled in $99.5 million for the upcoming quarter.

The company also expects an adjusted operating loss between $49.5 million and $57.5 million for Q2.

Investors weren’t impressed with any of this news. Shares dropped 11% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

The stock has been in a prolonged slump this year. Heading into earnings, C3.ai was already down 52% for 2025.

Retail traders on Stocktwits showed some optimism despite the poor results. Sentiment shifted to bullish by Thursday morning, though message volume spiked to extremely high levels as traders debated the company’s prospects.

The revenue miss continues a troubling pattern for C3.ai. The company has struggled to meet growth expectations even as the broader AI sector has seen explosive interest from investors.

C3.ai’s customer satisfaction remains high according to management, and the total addressable market for enterprise AI continues to expand rapidly.

Ehikian takes over at a crucial time for the company. The new CEO will need to prove that C3.ai can execute on sales while competing in an increasingly crowded AI software market.

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