C3.ai vs. Palantir: Which Enterprise AI Stock Should You Pick Now?

C3.ai, Inc. AI and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR are the two major players in the enterprise AI space. Both companies take a distinct approach to serving government agencies and large corporations.

While both aim to simplify the adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning at scale, their strategies diverge. As investor interest in AI stocks continues to heat up, comparing these two tech firms offers insight into where the smart money may go next.

Case for C3.ai

The company has made significant strides in advancing its AI initiatives, positioning itself as a pure-play enterprise AI application provider. Central to its innovation strategy is the development and deployment of more than 130 turnkey AI applications tailored to real-world business challenges such as predictive maintenance, supply-chain optimization, fraud detection and drug discovery.

The company’s proprietary C3 AI Agentic Platform serves as the foundation for these applications, enabling rapid deployment and value delivery across various industries. This platform is also the core of its generative AI efforts, supporting clients like the U.S. Air Force and USC’s Shoah Foundation in predictive maintenance and large-scale data indexing, respectively.

To strengthen its go-to-market approach and scalability, C3.ai has aggressively expanded its partner ecosystem. Strategic alliances with hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud have been instrumental in embedding C3’s applications into these platforms’ global sales networks.

Additionally, partnerships with consulting giants like McKinsey QuantumBlack and PwC aim to combine domain-specific transformation expertise with C3.ai’s AI capabilities. These relationships not only enhance visibility but also facilitate demonstration deployments, crucial for accelerating enterprise adoption across industries ranging from chemicals and manufacturing to life sciences and public sector organizations.

Another key AI initiative involves commercializing its Agentic AI capabilities, a domain where C3.ai claims an early lead backed by patented technology dating to 2022. With more than 100 agentic AI solutions already deployed across sectors such as defense, intelligence and government, the company is now eyeing growth by licensing its platform to OEMs and services providers. As this agentic and generative AI segment gains traction, accounting for a significant portion of its annual recurring revenues, C3.ai expects this area to become a central engine for future expansion, especially as demand for intelligent automation and domain-specific AI applications accelerates.

Case for Palantir

The company continues to strengthen its position in enterprise AI by advancing its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which is now focused on enabling full enterprise autonomy. The company has shifted its AI strategy from augmenting human productivity to building agents capable of independently executing complex workflows. AIP acts as a bridge between large language models and real business outcomes, using Palantir's proprietary ontology layer.

This framework allows organizations to deploy AI agents that operate in tandem with human users, optimizing decisions across sectors like insurance, healthcare, defense and supply chains. Palantir’s AI is not merely analytical; it is operational, designed to automate tasks traditionally reliant on human judgment.

In the public sector, PLTR’s AI agents have gained traction in critical defense and intelligence applications. The Maven Smart System, now used by NATO and U.S. defense agencies, showcases Palantir's AI capability in real-time decision-making and battlefield awareness. Similarly, its TITAN vehicle project integrates AI software directly into military hardware, reflecting Palantir’s software-first approach even in traditionally hardware-dominant domains. 

The company’s software has also enabled predictive healthcare, such as early sepsis detection, and intelligent claims automation in partnership with R1 RCM, demonstrating the flexibility of AIP across industries and its contribution to operational efficiency.

Palantir’s AI influence extends to commercial enterprises, with increasing adoption by large institutions. Companies like AIG and Walgreens have reported major improvements in workflow efficiency and decision-making using PLTR’s AI tools. The ability to rapidly deploy agents that learn and scale with minimal technical friction is central to this momentum.

AIP has evolved into a platform that not only accelerates deployment but also allows end-users to build their agents, furthering adoption and stickiness across industries. The firm’s emphasis on human-AI collaboration and real-world production use cases sets it apart in a crowded AI landscape.

Despite its strong AI-driven growth, Palantir faces concerns tied to its international business, especially in Europe. The company acknowledged that Europe remains slow in embracing AI at scale, resulting in sluggish growth and underutilization of its solutions in the region.

Price Performance

The AI stock has rallied 31.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s growth of 6.5%. Conversely, PLTR shares have jumped 44.4% in the same time frame.

Price Performance

Valuation

C3.ai is trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 7.24X, below its three-year median of 8.33X and the industry’s average of 18.26X. 

PLTR’s forward sales multiple sits at 74.39X, above its three-year median of 16.02X. The C3.ai stock is trading at a deep discount when compared with the sector average and PLTR.

P/S (F12M)

Comparing EPS Projections: AI & PLTR

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 loss per share has narrowed to 37 cents in the past 60 days. Moreover, the consensus mark for fiscal 2027 loss per share has narrowed to 16 cents from a loss of 45 cents in the same time frame. However, loss estimates for 2025 and 2026 have widened in the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLTR 2025 earnings per share has declined to 58 cents in the past 30 days. Moreover, the consensus mark for 2026 earnings per share has declined to 72 cents from 73 cents in the same time frame.

End Notes

C3.ai appears to be in a stronger position than Palantir at this point due to its clear and focused execution as a pure-play enterprise AI provider. The company’s strategic emphasis on ready-to-deploy AI applications, strong ecosystem partnerships with cloud and consulting giants, and early momentum in agentic and generative AI technologies is helping it deliver practical business outcomes across sectors. Its ability to scale through OEM licensing and partner-led sales also enhances commercial reach without heavy operational expansion. 

While Palantir remains a formidable AI innovator with deep roots in government and defense, its commercial traction is still developing, and international adoption, particularly in Europe, remains a hurdle. C3.ai’s consistent push toward monetizing AI with domain-specific use cases gives it an edge in driving adoption and value at scale.

AI currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while PLTR has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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