Is the new CEO at C3.ai capable of leading a turnaround in the company's stock performance?
C3.ai, a company known for offering over 130 turnkey solutions to businesses across various industries, is facing a significant period of transition. The reorganization efforts and the health issues of Thomas Siebel, the outgoing CEO and founder, have had a notable impact on the company's recent results.
Thomas Siebel will remain involved in the business as executive chairman, but the CEO role has been passed on to Stephen Ehikian, who brings a wealth of experience from the technology startup sector. Ehikian has contributed to the development of RelateIQ and Airkit.ai, both of which were acquired by Salesforce.
The first quarter of 2026 saw C3.ai post an operating loss of $124.8 million, a 72% increase from the $72.6 million loss in the prior-year period. The company had projected its quarterly revenue to be over $100 million, but the actual sales totaled $70.3 million, a nearly 20% decline year over year.
The new CEO, Stephen Ehikian, faces the challenge of improving the sharp decline in the top line and steering the company towards profitability. The hope is that C3.ai may be on a better track moving forward, as the transition is now complete.
However, the uncertainty surrounding the leadership change and the struggling stock performance has made the situation tough for investors. C3.ai stock is down more than 52% since the start of the year and hasn't traded this low since early 2023.
If there's a pullback on spending, things may get even tougher in the future for C3.ai, which is still struggling with profitability at a time when businesses are spending a lot on AI. The company will need to show significant improvement on both its top and bottom lines to win over growth investors.
The change in leadership may signal a potential change in direction for C3.ai. Ehikian has experience in building up technology companies and has also served as the acting administrator in the U.S. General Services Administration, being involved in the government's AI action plan.
Despite these solutions, investors have shown skepticism about C3.ai's growth prospects and recent financial results have not been promising. It's advisable for investors to wait at least a couple of quarters to see how the company is doing under its new leader before reevaluating the tech stock.
The company remains highly risky for investors due to its struggles with profitability and the ongoing concerns about whether investments into AI are paying off for companies. There's even more of a reason to hold off on investing in C3.ai due to the uncertainty surrounding its leadership change and its struggling stock.
