What do Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent Alphabet have in common? They all have market valuations of more than $1 trillion.
But there's another thing. They all have a partnership with a small artificial intelligence (AI) company called C3.ai (AI 3.52%).
C3.ai is a leader in enterprise AI, an industry it helped to create. The company develops ready-made and customizable AI solutions for hundreds of companies across different industries, which can materially accelerate their adoption of advanced technology. The stock is trading at a very attractive price right now after declining 93% from its all-time high. Here's why investors should consider buying in.
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C3.ai has world-class partners and customers
Cloud-computing technology is key to businesses that operate online in any capacity, and the three leading providers of cloud services happen to be Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. These platforms offer hundreds of tools to their customers that can speed up business operations, and the ability to build artificial intelligence models is one of them.
AI is capable of completing mundane tasks in a fraction of the time humans can, especially when they involve large volumes of data, so it makes sense businesses are clamoring to integrate the technology. That's where C3.ai comes in. Integrating its platform with AWS, for example, can allow an AWS customer to build an AI application 26 times faster than just building it on AWS alone. C3.ai can reduce the need to write code by about 99%, which is where much of the time savings comes from.
Recognizing the value this creates, cloud providers are partnering with C3.ai to accelerate the adoption of AI in their customers' businesses. Both Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are using C3.ai technology to improve their cloud services. The partnership with Azure in particular has netted at least $200 million in joint deals so far, including the acquisition of 16 new customers in the fiscal 2023 first quarter (ended July 31).
In total, C3.ai now has 228 customers across multiple industries from technology to manufacturing to oil and gas. The fossil fuel industry may not be one investors associate with advanced tech like AI, but oil giant Shell is using C3.ai to monitor over 13,000 pieces of equipment to improve safety, reduce emissions, and predict failures that could otherwise lead to significant environmental disasters.
C3.ai is growing steadily with plenty of potential
In fiscal 2022 (ended April 30), C3.ai generated $252.8 million in revenue, up 38% year over year. The company anticipates a much smaller increase of 1% to 7% during fiscal 2023 because of the unfavorable economic climate, which is pushing businesses to cut costs.
But in the fiscal first quarter, C3.ai grew its remaining performance obligations (RPOs) 58% to $458.2 million. Since RPOs are generally expected to convert into revenue in the future, it's a sign that any slowdown in sales might only be temporary. Plus, the company anticipates its addressable market opportunity could be as high as $596 billion by 2025, so it has a long runway for growth ahead.
C3.ai isn't profitable just yet, having lost $71.9 million during the quarter. That's a key reason its stock has suffered as investors have shunned loss-making companies this year. But it has a strong balance sheet with over $900 million in cash, equivalents, and short-term investments, which means it has plenty of dry powder to invest in growth and innovation.
C3.ai stock is cheap right now
After falling 93% from its all-time high, C3.ai's market valuation sits at just $1.37 billion right now. Keep in mind the company's cash balance of over $900 million, because it means investors are only valuing the actual business in the neighborhood of $500 million.
Considering the company's outstanding RPOs alone, and without factoring in its mammoth future potential or its partnerships with industry giants, that's a rock-bottom valuation. Plus, according to a report by McKinsey & Company, artificial intelligence could add $13 trillion to the global economy by 2030 as up to 70% of organizations deploy the technology in one way or another.
C3.ai is a first mover in the enterprise-AI space, so it deserves far more credit, and the steep discount in its stock price is a fantastic opportunity to buy for the long term.
