C3.ai (AI) stock tumbled 8% on Thursday after the maker of AI enterprise software posted weaker-than-expected subscription revenue for its first quarter of fiscal year 2025.
The stock's decline illustrates how investors are increasing scrutiny of companies whose stocks have benefited from the artificial intelligence hype.
Four firms lowered their price target on the stock following the report. JPMorgan analysts noted professional services revenue of $13.5 million came in well ahead of expectations for the quarter, but subscription revenue of $73.5 million came in 7% below consensus.
"Net/net, while the top line y/y growth continues to stabilize, the subscription revenue performance this quarter highlights the volatility in the model," wrote JPMorgan analysts after the print. The firm lowered its price target on the stock from $24 to $19.
The company's CEO pushed back against Wall Street's reaction to the quarter.
"By any standards it was a great quarter. At 21% top-line year-over-year growth, we're one of the fastest growing public software companies in the software universe," Tom Siebel, C3.ai CEO, told Yahoo Finance on Thursday morning.
"There was nothing that wasn't good about the quarter," added Siebel.
C3.ai was one of the early high-flying stocks this year during the initial AI craze in February. The stock has since lost all of its year-to-date gains.
The market has been unforgiving when it comes to valuations related to artificial intelligence as investors look for any signs of headwinds to what has largely been a bullish narrative.
One of the concerns is demand. On Wednesday Dell Technologies (DELL) founder and CEO Michael Dell told Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi talk of an AI spending letdown is way overblown.
"There always are bumps in the road as you launch a rocket and create new capabilities," Dell Technologies (DELL) founder and CEO Michael Dell told Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi at the Citi TMT conference on Wednesday.
"But the macro picture here is very, very clear, and that is that there's enormous demand. It's growing. It's expanding out from the hyperscalers to the service providers to enterprise to commercial to sovereign AI to embedded AI to the edge to retail to manufacturing to your PC to here, there, and everywhere," he added.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
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