Is C3.ai Overvalued? Analyst Adjustments Raise Questions

For the second time, Piper Sandler has adjusted its price target for C3.ai in about a week after the enterprise AI company released its financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended January 31, 2024.

According to reports on Monday, Piper Sandler maintained a Neutral rating on C3.ai share but raised the price target from $27 to $33.

Piper Sandler Keeps Neutral on C3.ai

At the time of writing, the C3.ai share was listed at $35.87, which would, however, mean an 8% decline to Piper Sandler’s new target at $33 per share. Prior to the latest adjustment, Piper Sandler analysts had also raised their target for C3.ai from $13.00 to $23.00. 

Piper Sandler is not the only institution to have raised their price target for C3.ai this past week. Unlike Piper Sandler, however, Wedbush Securities analysts kept an outperforming rating on C3.ai shares, raising their target from $35 to $40 on March 2nd, which represents an 11.5% increase from the current price. 

Morgan Stanley also increased its price target to $21 from the previous $20 while maintaining an Underweight rating on the stock, with the company pointing to C3.ai’s upbeat revenue performance in the third quarter.

The raises in price targets by the companies come at the heels of C3.ai’s latest earnings report released in late February, wherein the company admitted that “the market interest in enterprise AI is staggering.” 

C3 Target $310 Million Revenue in Full Year Fiscal 2024

The key growth driver for C3 remains its subscription revenue, which predominantly comes from government contracts. However, the company see notable bookings distribution from other sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, chemicals, professional services, and so on.

“We had a great quarter,” said C3 AI CEO and Chairman Thomas M. Siebel. “Total revenue of $78.4 million grew 18% year-over-year, exceeding our guidance range. Customer engagement grew 80% year-over-year.

“Our significant first mover advantage in Enterprise AI is generating tailwinds as market interest in adopting AI accelerates.”

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the company sets its guidance for revenue at $82.0 – $86.0 million and $306.0 – $310.0  million for the full year.