Data Infrastructure Stocks Q4 Teardown: C3.ai (NYSE:AI) Vs The Rest

Let’s dig into the relative performance of C3.ai (NYSE:AI) and its peers as we unravel the now-completed Q4 data infrastructure earnings season.

Generating insights from system level data is an increasing priority for most businesses, but to do so requires connecting and analyzing piles of data stored and siloed in separate databases. This is the demand driver for cloud based data infrastructure software providers, who can more readily integrate, distribute and process information vs. legacy on-premise software providers.

The 5 data infrastructure stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.5% below.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 11.6% since the latest earnings results.

Weakest Q4: C3.ai (NYSE:AI)

Named after the three Cs of its original focus—carbon, cloud computing, and customer relationship management—C3.ai (NYSE:AI) provides enterprise AI software that helps organizations develop, deploy, and operate large-scale artificial intelligence applications across various industries.

C3.ai reported revenues of $53.26 million, down 46.1% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 29.6%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts’ expectations significantly and revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly.

“I joined C3 AI six months ago and I did so with a clear conviction: this company is uniquely positioned to win in Enterprise AI. That conviction has been reinforced through extensive engagement with customers, prospects, partners, and investors. However, it was clear to me that we were not organized appropriately. We’ve reduced our cost structure and cash burn. We’ve restructured and flattened the sales organization. We’ve focused efforts on our best-in-class applications. We’ve shifted our go-to-market toward large-scale, enterprise-wide transformations. We’ve accelerated how we build and deliver product. And we are infusing our AI across every function at C3 AI. Those changes are substantially complete and C3 AI is now a more agile, more disciplined, and more accountable organization. Moving forward, our entire focus is on executing our return to growth and building C3 AI into a profitable, cash-positive business,” said Stephen Ehikian, CEO, C3 AI.

C3.ai delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full-year guidance update of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 10.7% since reporting and currently trades at $9.21.

Read our full report on C3.ai here, it’s free.

Best Q4: Teradata (NYSE:TDC)

Pioneering data warehousing technology in the 1980s before "big data" was a common term, Teradata (NYSE:TDC) provides cloud-based data analytics and AI platforms that help large enterprises integrate, analyze, and leverage their data across multiple environments.

Teradata reported revenues of $421 million, up 2.9% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5.4%. The business had an exceptional quarter with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Teradata delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 2% since reporting. It currently trades at $28.63.

Is now the time to buy Teradata? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Starting as a database company in 1977 and now powering mission-critical systems across the globe, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) provides enterprise software and hardware products and services that help businesses manage their information technology needs.

Oracle reported revenues of $16.06 billion, up 14.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 0.8%. It was a softer quarter as it posted a slight miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a miss of analysts’ billings estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 32.4% since the results and currently trades at $150.78.

Read our full analysis of Oracle’s results here.

Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT)

Built by the original creators of Apache Kafka, the popular open-source messaging system, Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) provides a data infrastructure platform that enables organizations to connect their applications, systems, and data layers around real-time data streams.

Confluent reported revenues of $314.8 million, up 20.5% year on year. This print surpassed analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Confluent scored the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company added 34 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 1,521. The stock is flat since reporting and currently trades at $30.73.

Read our full, actionable report on Confluent here, it’s free.

Elastic (NYSE:ESTC)

Built on the powerful open-source Elasticsearch technology that powers search functionality for thousands of websites worldwide, Elastic (NYSE:ESTC) provides a search and AI platform that helps organizations find insights from their data, monitor applications, and protect against security threats.

Elastic reported revenues of $449.9 million, up 17.7% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. It was a strong quarter as it also produced an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Elastic achieved the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is down 13.8% since reporting and currently trades at $53.09.

Read our full, actionable report on Elastic here, it’s free.

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