KeyCorp Issues Pessimistic Forecast for C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Stock Price

28 Feb 2026, 11:46 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

C3.ai (NYSE:AI – Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $10.00 to $6.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. KeyCorp’s target price suggests a potential downside of 24.29% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of C3.ai in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of C3.ai from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of C3.ai in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of C3.ai in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America set a $10.00 target price on C3.ai in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, C3.ai has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $15.87.

Get Our Latest Analysis on C3.ai

C3.ai Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of NYSE AI opened at $7.93 on Thursday. C3.ai has a 12-month low of $7.73 and a 12-month high of $30.24. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.04.

C3.ai (NYSE:AI – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.11). C3.ai had a negative return on equity of 53.96% and a negative net margin of 141.35%.The company had revenue of $53.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 46.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that C3.ai will post -2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at C3.ai

In other news, CFO Hitesh Lath sold 15,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $216,303.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,208,465.60. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Thomas M. Siebel sold 511,732 shares of C3.ai stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.66, for a total value of $5,966,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 722,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,422,740.92. This trade represents a 41.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,884,304 shares of company stock valued at $24,970,674. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On C3.ai

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of C3.ai by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,469,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,055,000 after acquiring an additional 108,011 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in C3.ai by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,824,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,034,000 after purchasing an additional 91,802 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in C3.ai by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,976,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,122,000 after purchasing an additional 94,086 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of C3.ai by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,868,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,675,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of C3.ai by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,425,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,066,000 after buying an additional 211,786 shares during the last quarter. 38.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

C3.ai News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting C3.ai this week:

Positive Sentiment: Restructuring could materially reduce cash burn — management outlined a restructuring that it says will generate roughly $135M of savings, which should extend runway if execution holds. I Was Skeptical Of C3.ai A Year Ago – It’s Even Worse Now (Rating Downgrade)
Positive Sentiment: Some sell‑side support remains — Wedbush still carries an outperform stance (albeit with a lower target), indicating a subset of analysts see recovery upside if commercial momentum returns. Benzinga coverage of analyst moves
Neutral Sentiment: CEO signals strategic focus on flexible AI scaling — management is pitching a go‑forward commercial strategy but needs to show contract wins. C3.ai wants to capture AI scaling with ‘maximum flexibility’: CEO
Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript is available for investors to review management comments and Q&A on guidance and sales execution. Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Negative Sentiment: Weak results: C3.ai missed revenue and EPS estimates — Q3 revenue and EPS came in well below consensus and revenue was reported down ~46% year‑over‑year, signaling material commercial weakness. C3.ai Stock Tumbles on Wider‑Than‑Expected Q3 Loss, Revenues Down Y/Y
Negative Sentiment: Major workforce cut and lowered outlook — the company is cutting ~26% of staff and trimmed near‑term sales guidance, prompting sharp selloffs in extended trading. C3.ai cuts 26% of global staff under new CEO’s restructuring push
Negative Sentiment: Analysts slashed price targets and issued downgrades — multiple firms lowered targets and ratings, increasing near‑term downside risk and reducing buy‑side conviction. Benzinga roundup of analyst moves
Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: a securities‑fraud investigation was announced, adding another overhang to sentiment and potential distraction for management. Ademi LLP Investigates Claims of Securities Fraud against C3.ai, Inc.

C3.ai Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

C3.ai, Inc is a leading enterprise software provider focused on delivering scalable artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to large organizations. The company’s core offering, the C3 AI Suite, is a comprehensive, model-driven platform that unifies data ingestion, model development, and application deployment. Through its suite of tools, C3.ai enables customers to accelerate digital transformation initiatives by applying advanced machine learning, predictive analytics, and AI-driven insights across a broad range of business functions.