C3.ai Inc (NYSE:AI) shares are lower Friday, giving back some of the gains from earlier in the week after reports surfaced that the company is in talks to merge with Automation Anywhere. Here’s what investors need to know.
AI Stock Pulls Back After Merger Rumors
C3.ai is giving back some gains Friday after soaring nearly 16% on Wednesday on deal speculation. Reports said the enterprise AI software maker is in talks to be acquired by Automation Anywhere, a privately held automation software company that could use the transaction to go public.
C3.ai sells AI applications to large organizations, including the U.S. Air Force, and serves industries such as energy and manufacturing. Automation Anywhere focuses on software that automates repetitive business tasks and was last valued at about $6.8 billion in 2019. C3.ai has not publicly commented on the reported discussions.
The potential deal follows leadership changes at C3.ai: founder Thomas Siebel recently stepped down as CEO, and the company has reportedly been weighing strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. Operationally, C3.ai has shown some improvement.
Federal Business Drives Growth Outlook
In December, it reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and slightly better-than-forecast revenue of about $75 million, driven largely by its federal-government business and larger, higher-value contracts.
New CEO Stephen Ehikian has flagged federal customers as a core growth engine, pointing to rising adoption of commercial AI tools, broader AI deployment and reindustrialization efforts such as the Maritime Industrial Base as key tailwinds.
What Do Low RSI Levels Signal?
Currently, C3.ai is trading 16.3% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 28.7% below its 100-day SMA, indicating a struggle with both short-term and longer-term trends. Shares have decreased approximately 65.13% over the past 12 months and are positioned closer to their 52-week lows than highs.
The RSI is at 37.57, which is considered neutral territory, while the MACD is below its signal line, indicating bearish pressure on the stock. The combination of neutral RSI and bearish MACD suggests mixed momentum.
- Key Resistance: $14.50
- Key Support: $13.00
C3.ai’s Business Model
C3.ai is an enterprise artificial intelligence company. The company provides software-as-a-service applications that enable customers to rapidly develop, deploy and operate large-scale Enterprise AI applications across any infrastructure.
Analysts Divided: Who’s Right About C3.ai Stock?
Investors are looking ahead to the next earnings report on Feb. 25.
- EPS Estimate: Loss of 46 cents (Down from Loss of 12 cents YoY)
- Revenue Estimate: $75.87 million (Down from $98.78 million YoY)
Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Hold Rating with an average price target of $26.41. Recent analyst moves include:
- Wedbush: Outperform (Maintains Target to $20.00) (Dec. 4, 2025)
- DA Davidson: Underperform (Maintains Target to $13.00) (Dec. 4, 2025)
- Canaccord Genuity: Hold (Maintains Target to $16.00) (Dec. 4, 2025)
AI Shares Fall Sharply Friday
AI Price Action: C3.ai shares were down 1.80% at $12.04 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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