Is C3.ai Stock a Buy?
The AI underdog still trades nearly 50% below its IPO price.
C3.ai (NYSE: AI), a developer of enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software, attracted a stampede of bulls when it went public on Dec. 9, 2020. It opened at $100 a share on the first day, which was more than double its IPO price of $42, and closed at a record high of $177.47 just two weeks later.
At its peak, C3.ai's market cap reached $17 billion, which was 93 times the $183 million in revenue it would actually generate in fiscal 2021 (which ended in April 2021). That bubbly valuation, further inflated by the buying frenzy in meme stocks, became unsustainable as its growth slowed down, it racked up more losses, and rising interest rates squeezed its valuations.
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