C3.ai recently released its 10-K report. C3.ai, Inc. is an enterprise artificial intelligence application software company that sells a platform for building and running AI applications, along with packaged products for customer relationship management, generative AI, healthcare, financial services, supply chain, sustainability, defense and intelligence, and government use cases. The company also offers related development tools, support services, and deployment options across public cloud, private cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, it was formerly known as C3 IoT, Inc. before changing its name in June 2019.
In Item 7, management said the fiscal year ended April 30, 2026 was marked by a sharp drop in revenue and a smaller pipeline of committed future business. Total revenue fell 35.7% year over year to $250.3 million, with subscription revenue down 31% to $227.1 million and professional services revenue down 62% to $23.2 million.
Subscriptions remained the main revenue source, accounting for 91% of total revenue in fiscal 2026, compared with 84% in fiscal 2025 and 90% in fiscal 2024. Professional services made up the remaining 9% in fiscal 2026, versus 16% a year earlier.
The company said it generates subscription revenue on a ratable or usage basis, and that some customers also pay runtime fees tied to vCPU and vGPU usage. It said customers using C3 AI’s cloud environment pay hosting costs charged by cloud providers, and that initial production deployments often start with a short proof-of-value period before converting to a recurring subscription or consumption arrangement.
Remaining performance obligations fell to $203.1 million at April 30, 2026 from $235.1 million a year earlier. Of the 2026 total, $36.4 million was deferred revenue and $166.7 million was non-cancellable contracted commitments; the comparable figures in 2025 were $36.6 million and $198.5 million.
C3.ai said it executed 71 initial production deployment agreements in fiscal 2026, down from 174 in fiscal 2025 and 123 in fiscal 2024. Management said the lower count reflected a strategic focus on engagements with a higher probability of delivering targeted economic value and converting into production contracts.
The company said its go-to-market approach is centered on large organizations in sectors such as oil and gas, power and utilities, aerospace and defense, industrial products, life sciences, and financial services. It also said it works with partners including Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, McKinsey, PwC, Fractal, Baker Hughes, Booz Allen, and SMX Group. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares -3.1% to a price of $9.38. Check out the company's full 10-K submission here.
