March 1, 2024

C3.ai joins the AI bonanza

C3.ai shares jump 40% and Coles outshines Woolworths with stronger earnings results. Get your 3-minute weekly dose of financial news.

By Stella Ong

Home > Blog > News & Insights > C3.ai joins the AI bonanza

Hey Superheroes,

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at all-time highs overnight and the ASX followed with a new high today. How exciting! 

While Wall Street continues to see companies release quarterly earnings, the ASX might’ve just taken the centre stage after over 50 companies released half-year earnings this week. 

Here are this week’s stories.

C3.ai joins the AI bonanza with strong price performance

Shares of C3.ai (NYSE:AI) are up more than 40% in the last week after posting better than expected quarterly results. 

C3.ai was the ninth most traded U.S. stock on Superhero last year despite only listing in 2020.

🤖 The low-down on the data

C3.ai’s latest numbers show that it’s doing much better than what analysts had expected. 

The AI software company beat revenue estimates and even posted a net loss less than half of what was expected. Revenues grew over 17% year-on-year while net loss only increased by 1.35%. While this may not beat profitability, its recent stock performance suggests the market thinks it’s a step in the right direction. 

Here are the numbers:

  • Revenue: $78.4m actual vs $76.1m expected
  • EPS: $0.13 loss vs $0.28 loss expected

C3.ai generates ~90% of its revenue from subscriptions, which also performed better than expected. Subscription growth is viewed positively given that it generally signals longer-term customer relationships.

Investors fly to buy Coles

Coles gained over 8% this week after releasing its earnings report showing a profitable first half – a stark contrast to how investors reacted to Woolies’ report last week. 

🛒 Fix and nix 

While its biggest rival notched a net loss last half, Coles recorded an interim net profit of $594m, allowing it to reward investors with a $0.36/share fully franked dividend payout. Coles also saw sales increase 4.90% YoY in the first eight weeks of this year, a lot higher compared to the 1.50% seen by Woolies.

Analysts believe that Coles has tackled previous theft issues by improving staff training and technology. They note that this effort could greatly benefit Coles in the latter half of FY 2024.

👀 Under a watchful eye

The Aussie grocery industry is currently under investigation by the ACCC after allegations of price gouging. 

Coles CEO Leah Weckert addressed this in the earnings announcement by stating that Coles’ profit margin has not changed in the last five years at approximately $2.60 per $100 of sales. 

🔦  Some other things we’re shining the Spotlight on:

  • NOT SO RED HOT ANYMORE: Latest AU monthly inflation data released on Wednesday showed that inflation in January remained the same as December’s at 3.40%. This is expected to be taken into consideration in the next RBA cash rate decision on March 19.
  • THE WAIT IS OVER: Alcoa (NYSE: AA) has offered to fully acquire Alumina (ASX: AWC) after two decades of speculation. Under the proposal, shareholders would receive 0.02854 shares of Alcoa per share of Alumina. This values Alumina at A$1.16/share – 9% more than its last close – when calculated using Alcoa’s last closing price. 
  • XERO’S NEW HERO: Xero is set to release a new AI companion called JAX (short for “Just Ask Xero”) before the end of the year. JAX is part of Xero’s latest strategic update which aims to double the size of its business and increase its average revenue per user (ARPU).

 

While the ASX has pretty much wrapped up its half-year earnings season, Wall Street continues on with Target, Gitlab and Broadcom among those reporting next week.

Keep up to date with market news and insights by following us on Instagram, @superheroau!

That’s all for this week’s Spotlight! 

23-10_general_CTA-banner@2x

Become a part of

our investors' community

Why you should join us:

  1. Join free and invest with no monthly account fees.
  2. Fund your account in real time with PayID.
  3. Get investing with brokerage from $2. Other fees may apply for U.S. shares.

Read our latest articles

Make knowledge your superpower and up your skills and know-how with our news, educational tools and resources.

rio tinto
star casino sydney
china stimulus
rea group
Close up of me Bank branch signage
Close up of CommBank branch signage
japanese yen and usd
Close up of major tech apps on a phone
Macro shot of Elon Musk and his X (formerly Twitter) profile
bridgerton netflix
ai companies openai stabilityai anthropic
mygov rebate
apple intelligence
soldier holding droneshield gun dronegun tactical
closeup of AI chip
nvidia chip
alibaba on nyse
disney+ first profit
apple iphone macbook
google office dividend
netflix subscribers grow
clothes rack
bob iger with minnie mouse
TMTG media
reddit ipo
xiaomi porsche tesla eectric vehicle su7
facebook news meta
c3.ai stock ai
NVIDIA surpasses Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla and Meta
CSL’s heart medicine misses a beat
Disney’s $1.5 billion foray into gaming
Meta and Amazon surge after earnings reports
Tesla Model Y gets the gold medal
Apple finally takes Samsung's crown
microsoft replacing lithium with sodium for batteries
tesla byd sales
New Apple Watches don’t make it to the holidays
Tesla’s largest vehicle recall yet
Lights out for Brookfield bid
Apple cuts its Goldman Sachs credit cards
NVIDIA’s export ban and OpenAI’s big week
ChatGPT’s win is Microsoft’s win
Pilbara Minerals records lower revenue
Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard for US$69b
Atlassian acquires Loom in A$1.5b deal 
Airbnb looks to long-term listings and car rentals
Is Amazon “too” prime?
The RBA was considering a rate hike this month
Apple drops new iPhone to tighter wallets
This megabyte-sized IPO is giving Nvidia the jitters
Flight Centre is back to the future with dividends
Nvidia's hot chips
Seven West’s profit goal miss
CBA’s $10b cha-ching!
Your Uber (profit) has arrived
Carvana’s 1000% nirvana
"Game on" for Microsoft's mega-deal
Ice Cubes with Potential IPOing companies logo
Liontown the pride leader
A forced marriage of two banking titans UBS bank CreditSuisse
SVB - The biggest banking collapse since 2008
The Apple of Goldman’s Eye
Bunnings snags a bite of the pet market
ETF providers go head-to-head on fees
Retailers report bumper earnings
Disney to let go of 7000 staff
Big week for tech as Nasdaq sets new record
Spotlight: Tesla's earnings accelerate
Virgin Australia prepares for takeoff
Spotlight: ChatGPT - Rise of the Machine
Nike swooshes into 2023
Disney's Avatar returns after more than a decade
SpaceX launches further into space
Elon picks a fight with Apple
Abercrombie & Fitch is so hot right now
The wheels fall off Deliveroo
Meta cuts a record number of jobs
Call of Duty fires on record sales
Alphabet is feeling the heat
WWE's finishing move on Wall Street
Microsoft takes the FOMO out of WFH
Elon and Twitter's billion dollar problem
Harley-Davidson electrifies Wall St
Take-Two suffers historic hack
Apple can detect your next car crash
Spotlight: Snapchat snaps back to basics
$5 pizzas are a dying breed
Elon kicks off Man United's share price
Markets are bouncing back on a tech rally
It's a full house at Airbnb
Macca's will now pay you to stay
Elon bins Bitcoin, lights up lithium instead
Flight Centre is the most shorted stock on the ASX
Amazon is knocking on your door
Disney just bumped Netflix out of the F1
Why Kellogg's is splitting into three
Why are markets so scared of interest rates?
Why Apple is becoming a bank
Why franchises are the future of streaming
Can Kim Kardashian save Beyond Meat?
Why Warren Buffett is buying like it's 2008
Google wants a bite of Apple's hardware empire
Amazon, eBay and Shopify warn the online shopping spree is over