Shares in C3 AI Inc. plummeted over 20% in late trading after the artificial intelligence software developer missed on its outlook at the midpoint, despite otherwise solid figures in its latest earnings report.

For its fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, which ended on April 30, C3 AI reported a net loss before certain costs such as stock compensation of 13 cents per share on revenue of $72.4 million. Analysts had expected an adjusted loss of 17 cents per share on revenue of $71.29 million.

C3 AI saw subscription revenue of $56.9 million in the quarter, with remaining performance obligations at $381.4 million. The company had $812.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments as of the end of April.

For its full fiscal year 2023, C3 AI reported an adjusted net loss per share of 42 cents on revenue of $266.8 million, up 5.6% year-over-year. The company’s subscription revenue rose 11%, to $230.4 million.

Looking back at its fiscal year, C3 AI said interest in AI for business processes is more active than ever. The company argues that as the enterprise AI market grows, most demand is for turnkey enterprise AI applications rather than development tools. Some 83% of C3 AI’s bookings were driven by application sales and 17% by sales of the C3 AI platform.

The company’s customers were led by oil and gas at 33.8%, followed by federal, defense and aerospace at 28.9%, high tech at 13.2%, energy and utilities at 11.4%, manufacturing at 4.2%, food Processing at 2.0%, chemicals at 1.8%, life sciences at 1.5% and other sectors at 3.2%.

C3 AI closed 43 agreements in the fourth quarter, including 19 pilots. The number of qualified enterprise opportunities targeted for closure within 12 months in their sales pipeline has increased by more than 100% in the past year.

For its fiscal first quarter of 2024, C3 AI expects revenue of $70 million to $72.5 million, a miss at the midpoint versus analysts who were expecting $72.1 million. For its full fiscal year, the company expects revenue of $295 million to $320 million, another miss at the midpoint versus an expected $317 million.

Image: C3.ai