The AI stock is brushing off two price-target hikes
Artificial intelligence (AI) name C3.ai Inc (NYSE:AI) announced smaller-than-expected losses for the fiscal second quarter after yesterday's close and beat revenue expectations. The tech company also raised its annual revenue outlook amid strong demand, but shares are down 10.6% to trade at $37.27 as tech peer Oracle (ORCL) struggles.
The security is brushing off price-target hikes from D.A. Davidson and Morgan Stanley from $35 and $21 to $40 and $32, respectively. Analysts lean bearish on AI, with 11 of 14 firms in question a "hold" or worse rating, while the 12-month consensus target price of $34.33 is a 17.6% discount to current levels.
AI is pivoting lower from yesterday's 52-week high of $42.94, as it paces for its biggest single-day percentage loss since September. Newfound support at the $36 region looks ready to contain additional losses, however, with shares sporting a 33.8% lead for 2024.
Short-term options traders echo that pessimism. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR), which sits higher than 98% of readings from the past 12 months. Plus, the 22.7 million shares sold short make up a whopping 20.2% of AI's available float.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 44,000 calls and 14,000 puts have already traded hands, which is six times the volume typically seen at this point. Most active is the January, 2025 40-strike call.