Key Highlights and Takeaways
C3.ai Inc., a leading enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) company, reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. The company's stock price plunged in after-hours trading following the release of the report.
C3.ai reported first-quarter revenue of $87.2 million, a 21% year-over-year increase. This figure surpassed analyst expectations of $86.9 million. Subscription revenue, which accounted for 84% of total revenue, grew by 20% to $73.5 million.
The company reported a loss of 5 cents per share, exceeding analyst expectations of a 13-cent loss. CEO Thomas Siebel expressed optimism about the company's performance, stating, "We had a solid start to the fiscal year, with rising demand for Enterprise AI driving our sixth consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth."
C3.ai closed 71 deals in the first quarter, including 52 pilots, representing a 122% year-over-year increase. The company expanded its geographical footprint by closing 25 deals with municipal, county, and state agencies across various states. New agreements were signed with prominent organizations such as Dolce & Gabbana, Ingersoll Rand, GSK, Valero, Swift, Sanofi, the U.S. Intelligence Community, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Federal business accounted for 30% of bookings in the quarter, with new and expansion agreements signed with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Intelligence Community. C3.ai's partner network saw 51 closed agreements, with partner-supported bookings increasing by 94% year-over-year. Google Cloud and C3.ai jointly closed 40 agreements, a 300% year-over-year increase.
C3 Generative AI is experiencing strong customer demand, with 17 pilots closed in the quarter. The company also closed a pilot with an unnamed Northeastern state in the U.S. for its C3 Generative AI for Government Programs. C3.ai ended the quarter with $762.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The company expects second-quarter revenue to be between $88.6 million and $93.6 million, with full-year revenue projected to be in the range of $370 million to $395 million. Despite the positive earnings report, C3.ai's stock price dropped by 17% in after-hours trading.