Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have become the hottest thing on Wall Street, and one of the stocks that has attracted attention from investors is C3.ai (AI +2.22%). Shares of C3.ai have cooled off after an initial surge in 2023 following the launch of ChatGPT, but there is still substantial interest in the stock since it's one of the few pure-play AI stocks available.
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Key Data Points
C3.ai calls itself the "AI for the enterprise company." It operates as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, providing more than 40 turnkey enterprise AI applications to its customers.
It handles tasks that include inventory optimization, demand forecasting, and anti-money laundering, many of which are based on machine learning techniques. In addition to stand-alone applications, the company offers a single platform for enterprise AI, although most of its revenue comes from stand-alone applications.
Artificial Intelligence
Building on the excitement around ChatGPT, C3.ai also launched its own generative AI product suite built into the C3.ai platform and offers tools such as enterprise search (i.e., a company's ability to use a natural language interface to search for information across the company's information systems). So far, it's closed dozens of generative AI pilots and converted some of those to production. In fiscal 2025, which ended on April 30, the C3 Generative AI business grew revenue by more than 100%.
In this article on C3.ai, we'll explore how to invest in the stock, review C3.ai's recent financial results and projections, and discuss its growth potential in AI.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
How to buy C3.ai stock
C3.ai was founded in 2009 and went public in December 2020. The stock initially surged after the debut but crashed in the tech bear market in 2022. As a publicly traded company, any investor can buy the stock. And at around $23, it's affordable to pretty much any investor.
Below is a step-by-step guide to buying the stock if you're wondering how to invest in C3.ai.
1. Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
2. Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
3. Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
4. Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
5. Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
6. Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Should I invest in C3.ai?
C3.ai has been one of the more volatile stocks on the market since its initial public offering (IPO) at the end of 2020. The stock almost doubled right out of the gate before giving up those gains in subsequent months as the company delivered disappointing results.
Meanwhile, market sentiment shifted, and in a rising interest rate environment, investors balked at high-priced, unprofitable software stocks like C3.ai. At the beginning of 2023, the stock was down more than 90% from its all-time high, but the emergence of AI and the excitement around generative AI have fed interest in the stock.
However, C3.ai is still struggling to convert that interest into profitability even as growth has improved. In fiscal 2024, revenue grew 25% to $389.1 million, and the business is still deeply unprofitable with a net loss of $288.7 million, or an adjusted net loss of $52.3 million due to $231 million stock-based compensation.
For fiscal 2026, C3.ai is forecasting 20% revenue growth at the midpoint guidance, though that's just initial guidance for the year and could change significantly.
Is C3.ai profitable?
Management had once said it expected to be profitable on a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis by the end of fiscal 2024, though that didn't turn out to be true. CEO Thomas Siebel has said that the company expects revenue to outgrow expenses, so it should eventually turn profitable on a non-GAAP basis as it scales up. The company now expects to be cash flow-positive for fiscal 2027, though it's pushed that target back multiple times.
In fiscal 2025, the company finished with a free cash flow loss of $44.4 million, and that includes a large benefit from share-based compensation.
Revenue
As of June 2025, C3.ai was trading at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 9, which seems expensive for such an unprofitable company.
C3.ai is a unique company that seems to occupy a distinctive niche in AI. However, other tech companies or AI start-ups could be working on similar applications. That differentiated positioning could give C3.ai significant upside potential, especially if more businesses adopt AI tools like those the company offers.
Given its lofty valuation and deep losses, investors are best off treating C3.ai cautiously until it becomes clear that the company can capitalize on the opportunity in AI.
Does C3.ai pay a dividend?
C3.ai does not pay a dividend and is unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future. Paying a dividend is generally reserved for reliably profitable, mostly mature companies, and C3.ai is neither profitable nor mature.
In its annual report, the company said it does not anticipate declaring or paying dividends in the foreseeable future. Considering most SaaS companies don't pay dividends, C3.ai is unlikely to do so for at least several years.
ETFs with exposure to C3.ai
Approximately 76 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have exposure to C3.ai. Although most have very little exposure to the AI stock, there are three ETFs where C3.ai makes up at least 3%. For example, it makes up 3% of the Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU +1.15%), which also owns shares of other software-as-a-service stocks like Zscaler (ZS +3.57%) and Box (BOX -0.63%).
An ETF is a good way to get exposure to a range of AI stocks and other related companies. You can choose from a number of AI ETFs, as well.
Will C3.ai stock split?
Several high-profile growth stocks have split their stocks in the last few years, attracting investor attention. Those include Tesla (TSLA +2.28%), Apple (AAPL +0.44%), Amazon (AMZN +1.44%), Alphabet (GOOG +0.47%)(GOOGL +0.55%), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), and Nvidia (NVDA +1.04%).
There's no hard-and-fast rule determining at what price a stock should split its shares. Generally, it follows substantial price appreciation. It would be unusual for a stock to split at a price of less than $100. C3.ai could eventually split its stock, but that's unlikely to happen unless the stock achieves significant growth and management is confident it can maintain it.
Investors should also be aware that a stock split doesn't affect a stock's fundamentals. Splits get a lot of attention from investors and in the media, and there is evidence that they can boost a stock since they reflect management's confidence. However, investors are much better off buying a stock based on fundamentals rather than because it is planning to do a stock split.
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The bottom line on C3.ai
C3.ai is one of the more exciting AI stocks on the market today, but like other emerging technologies in the past, investors should treat the stock with caution. Ever since the dot-com bubble, new technologies have captivated investors but often lead to bubbles and stock crashes.
Once again, stocks like C3.ai seem to have jumped largely based on hype since their growth rates are still relatively slow. With a unique product offering, C3.ai has the ability to break through in AI, especially if its offering gains traction with customers. However, there's reason to be skeptical based on its performance so far.
Keep your eye on the company's results since it could capitalize on the AI boom. Still, its inability to do so meaningfully is a warning sign for the stock.
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