Core Insights - C3.ai, Inc. (AI) reported a weak start to fiscal 2026 with first-quarter revenues of $70.3 million, a decline of 19% year over year, primarily due to softer demand for demonstration licenses and disruptions from organizational changes [1][8] Revenue Breakdown - Subscription revenues were $60.3 million, making up 86% of total sales, indicating the stickiness of long-term contracts [2] - Demonstration licenses saw a significant decline of $15.9 million sequentially, which pressured overall revenue [2][8] - Professional services contributed $10 million, mainly from prioritized engineering services, but this was not enough to offset the revenue decline [3] Customer and Partner Activity - The company signed 28 new initial production deployments (IPDs) in the quarter, totaling 374, with 266 still active [4] - Approximately 90% of deals were partner-led, highlighting the importance of alliances with major cloud providers like Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud [4] - Notable enterprise-scale wins with companies such as Nucor, Qemetica, and HII demonstrate the platform's applicability across various sectors [4] Future Guidance - Management expects fiscal second-quarter revenues to range from $72 million to $80 million, indicating a modest sequential improvement [5] - Despite near-term pressures from execution missteps and reliance on pilot-phase deployments, strong partner momentum and a growing pipeline of IPDs could stabilize revenue as fiscal 2026 progresses [5] Stock Performance and Valuation - C3.ai shares have declined 27.6% over the past three months, while the industry average fell by 7.4% [6] - The stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 7.50, significantly below the industry average of 17.10, suggesting an attractive investment opportunity [9] Earnings Estimates - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for C3.ai's fiscal 2026 loss per share has widened from 37 cents to $1.33 over the past 60 days [10] - Projections indicate a 224.4% fall in fiscal 2026 earnings, contrasting with expected growth for industry peers like Leidos, Vertiv, and Draganfly [13]