AI
C3.ai, Inc.
Technology · Software - Infrastructure · United States · Stock
Score Breakdown
Scored for Safe Long-Term Investing profile
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Why Ranked Here
- The composite score of 10.3/100 reflects near-minimum scores across growth, profitability, and momentum, driven by sharply declining revenue, deeply negative margins, and worsening quarterly trends.
- The company pays no dividend and its theme assignment did not contribute positively to the score under the current methodology, leaving few offsetting factors to lift the overall rating.
- A return on assets of -57.6% in FY2026 underscores that the company is generating significantly negative returns on its asset base, further weighing on the composite score.
Why Not Higher
- Every major financial metric — revenue growth, net income, EPS, net margin, operating margin, and return on assets — moved in the wrong direction in FY2026, leaving virtually no positive factor to offset the broad deterioration.
- Quarterly momentum showed no improvement, with operating losses remaining persistently large across all four quarters of FY2026 and revenue declining sharply in the second half of the year.
Data Confidence
6 / 10
Medium — some data gaps
Why This Score
Grounded in figures from this company's SEC EDGAR filings — not a restatement of the score itself.
Revenue declined from $389,056,000 in FY2025 to $250,268,000 in FY2026, a drop of 35.7%. Net income worsened from -$288,702,000 in FY2025 to -$470,369,000 in FY2026 (-62.9%), and diluted EPS fell from -$2.24 in FY2025 to -$3.35 in FY2026 (-49.6%).
The model assigned a near-minimum growth score because all three key growth metrics — revenue, net income, and EPS — deteriorated sharply between FY2025 and FY2026, signaling contraction rather than expansion.
In FY2026, C3.ai reported a net margin of -187.9%, an operating margin of -199.2%, and a return on assets of -57.6%, all deeply negative.
The model awarded the minimum profitability score because the company is spending far more than it earns, with losses exceeding revenue on both a net and operating basis and generating significantly negative returns on its asset base in FY2026.
Filing evidence currently available does not support a more specific explanation for this factor.
Quarterly revenue declined from $70,261,000 in 2026Q1 to $75,147,000 in 2026Q2 before falling to $53,260,000 in 2026Q3 and $51,600,000 in 2026Q4, showing a decelerating trend in the back half. Operating losses remained persistently large across all four quarters, ranging from -$112,113,000 in 2026Q2 to -$140,408,000 in 2026Q3, with no meaningful improvement.
The model assigned a low momentum score because revenue trended downward over the most recent quarters and operating losses showed no sustained improvement, indicating negative near-term business trajectory.
C3.ai does not currently pay a dividend and has no mapped dividend history, making it a genuine non-payer rather than a case of missing data.
The model assigns a zero dividend score because there is no dividend income for investors to reward, which is consistent with the company's growth-stage profile and ongoing net losses.
C3.ai is assigned to the Enterprise AI Software macro theme.
Although Enterprise AI Software is an actively tracked and high-profile macro theme, this assignment did not translate into a positive theme sub-score under the model's current methodology.
Research Summary
AI-generated analysis reflects data and conditions as of the report date shown above. Verify any specific figures through primary sources before acting on this analysis.
C3.ai reported a sharp revenue decline of 35.7% year-over-year, falling from $389,056,000 in FY2025 to $250,268,000 in FY2026, while net losses deepened by 62.9% to -$470,369,000. Profitability metrics are severely negative, with a net margin of -187.9% and an operating margin of -199.2% in FY2026, meaning the company is losing nearly twice as much as it earns in revenue. Quarterly momentum also deteriorated, with revenue declining from $75,147,000 in 2026Q2 to $51,600,000 in 2026Q4 and operating losses remaining persistently large throughout the year. The company carries a High risk rating and an overall score of 10.3/100, reflecting broad deterioration across growth, profitability, and momentum dimensions.
Plain English
C3.ai is an enterprise AI software company that is currently losing far more money than it makes — its losses are actually bigger than its total revenue — and its sales have been shrinking, not growing, making it a high-risk investment at this time.
Bull Case vs. Bear Case
Bull Case
- C3.ai operates in the Enterprise AI Software space, a high-profile and actively tracked macro theme that could benefit from broader industry tailwinds over the long term.
- The company reported total assets of $816,273,000 in FY2026, suggesting it retains a meaningful asset base that could support continued operations while it pursues a path to profitability.
- C3.ai is assigned to the Enterprise AI Software macro theme, which remains one of the most prominent technology categories, potentially positioning the company to benefit if it can stabilize its business fundamentals.
Bear Case
- Revenue fell 35.7% year-over-year from $389,056,000 in FY2025 to $250,268,000 in FY2026, and quarterly revenue continued declining through the back half of FY2026, reaching just $51,600,000 in 2026Q4.
- The company's net margin of -187.9% and operating margin of -199.2% in FY2026 indicate that losses exceed total revenue, reflecting an unsustainable cost structure with no near-term path to profitability visible in the data.
- Net losses worsened by 62.9% to -$470,369,000 in FY2026, and diluted EPS deteriorated from -$2.24 to -$3.35, signaling accelerating financial deterioration rather than improvement.
What Could Change the Picture
Bullish Triggers
- A sustained reversal in quarterly revenue trends — moving from the current declining trajectory back toward growth — would be a meaningful positive signal for the business.
- A material reduction in operating losses, which ranged from -$112,113,000 to -$140,408,000 per quarter in FY2026, would suggest improving cost discipline and a more credible path toward profitability.
Bearish Triggers
- If revenue continues to decline beyond the already sharp 35.7% annual drop and quarterly figures fall below the $51,600,000 seen in 2026Q4, the company's financial position could deteriorate further.
- Continued deepening of net losses beyond the -$470,369,000 recorded in FY2026 would reinforce concerns about the sustainability of the current business model.
Risk Profile
High RiskC3.ai's quarterly operating losses ranged from -$112,113,000 to -$140,408,000 across all four quarters of FY2026 with no sustained improvement, and revenue declined materially through the back half of the year, indicating a negative near-term business trajectory that supports the High risk rating.
This report is for educational and research purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice — always conduct your own due diligence before making investment decisions.