Shares of C3.ai (AI +0.66%) were surging today after the enterprise-software company posted better-than-expected results in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report and offered solid guidance for fiscal 2025.
As a result, the stock was up 19.2% as of 2:26 p.m. ET.
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C3.ai quiets the doubters
C3.ai emerged as an early winner in the AI boom as its stock soared early last year, but since then, its shares have mostly struggled as it's posted slow growth and wide losses despite big promises about capitalizing on the opportunity in artificial intelligence.
In its fiscal Q1 earnings report, the company reported subscription-revenue growth up 41%. Overall revenue rose 20% to $86.6 million, beating the company's own guidance and analyst expectations at $84.4 million.
Following an earlier switch to consumption-based pricing, C3.ai is seeing increasing demand for its services as it closed 191 agreements in the quarter, up 52% from the quarter a year ago.
On the bottom line, its adjusted-loss per share narrowed from $0.13 to $0.11, which was much better than the consensus at a loss of $0.30 per share.
CEO Thomas Siebel was unabashed about the opportunity in front of the company, saying, "The interest we are seeing in our generative AI applications is staggering."
NYSE: AI
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What's next for C3.ai
C3.ai also impressed the market with its guidance for fiscal 2025, calling for full-year revenue of $370 million to $395 million, up 23% from fiscal 2024, and better than the analyst consensus at $367.5 million.
The AI software company still expects to be unprofitable, forecasting an adjusted loss from operations of $95 million to $125 million, up from $94.8 million in 2024.
While the company is still likely several years away from profitability, revenue growth is accelerating, and the business is gaining traction. That's a good enough reason for the stock to bounce after the challenges it's faced.
