C3.ai Inc - Class A
Q1 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +3.46%.
Did AI Beat Earnings? Q1 2026 Results
C3.ai delivered a deeply disappointing fiscal first quarter of 2026, missing on both the top and bottom lines as a CEO transition and sweeping sales reorganization threw the enterprise AI company into disarray. Revenue came in at $70.26 million, falling 25.16% short of the $93.88 million consensus and declining 19.4% from the year-ago period, while a loss per share of $0.37 badly missed the $0.21 consensus estimate by 75.27%. Those <a href="https://247wallst.com/investing/2025/09/03/live-will-c3-ai-earnings-come-in-higher-than-earlier-estimates/">closely watched earnings figures</a> reflected the quarter's central disruption: founder Thomas Siebel stepped aside as CEO citing health issues that directly hampered the company's ability to close deals, prompting a full restructuring of the global sales and services organization. GAAP gross margin cratered to 38% from 60% a year earlier, and net loss nearly doubled to $116.77 million. With the full-year outlook withdrawn pending stabilization under new CEO Stephen Ehikian, the company guided Q2 revenue of $72 million to $80 million, while multiple securities class action lawsuits have since emerged over the disclosure timeline surrounding the CEO's health.
- Revenue decline attributed to disruptive sales and services organization restructuring in the quarter
- CEO health issues prevented active participation in the sales process, which had greater impact than previously anticipated
- Subscription revenue declined to $60.3 million from $73.5 million year-over-year
- GAAP gross margin compressed to 38% from 60% year-over-year
“The good news is we have completely restructured the sales and services organization, including new and highly experienced leadership across the board to ensure a return to accelerating growth and increased customer success at C3 AI, and even better, we have appointed an exceptionally talented new CEO to take the company to the next level and realize the full potential of the business. The bad news is that financial performance in Q1 was completely unacceptable. Having given this a lot of thought, I attribute this to two factors. One: it is clear that in the short term, the reorganization with new sales and services leadership had a disruptive effect. Two: as we have previously announced, I have had a number of unanticipated health issues. Unfortunately, this prevented me from participating in the sales process as actively as I have in the past. With the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that my active participation in the sales process may have had a greater impact than I previously thought. That being said, as we enter Q2, we have new leadership in place, a restructuring of the sales and services organization completed, an extraordinarily large market opportunity, a superlative product offering, and exceptional levels of customer satisfaction, and I am confident the company is positioned to accelerate going forward.”
C3.ai CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
For Q2 fiscal 2026, C3 AI guided total revenue of $72.0 million to $80.0 million and non-GAAP loss from operations of $(49.5) million to $(57.5) million. The company withdrew its previously issued full-year fiscal 2026 guidance due to the appointment of a new CEO and the recent restructuring of the sales and services organizations. Full-year guidance will be provided when Q2 results are announced. Management expressed confidence the company is positioned to accelerate growth going forward with new leadership, a restructured sales organization, and a large market opportunity.
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