C3.ai, Inc. AI is placing increased focus on its partner ecosystem as a key growth driver. In fiscal 2025, 73% of agreements were completed through partnerships, with 193 agreements closed via this channel, up 68% from the prior year. In the fiscal fourth quarter, partner-supported bookings rose 419% year over year, with 59 agreements signed through collaborations. The company stated that this network is becoming central to expanding customer reach and advancing the adoption of enterprise AI applications.
The partnership with Microsoft MSFT continues to be a driving force, helping expand market reach. In the fiscal fourth quarter alone, 28 new agreements were closed, with a particular focus on manufacturing and chemicals. Similarly, the relationship with Alphabet’s GOOGL Google Cloud remains robust, creating additional avenues to connect with enterprises seeking scalable AI solutions. Amazon’s AMZN AWS also plays a role in enhancing delivery capabilities across global markets. To support these partnerships, the company invested in building demonstration applications on Microsoft’s Azure, Amazon’s AWS and Alphabet’s Google Cloud, enabling partner sales teams to showcase complex use cases to customers from the very first meeting.
Beyond technology platforms, advisory alliances are broadening the company’s distribution capacity. The initial agreement with McKinsey QuantumBlack in the fiscal fourth quarter marked a notable milestone, while the new collaboration with PwC targets industries such as financial services, manufacturing and utilities.
These alliances provide a larger salesforce footprint, joint marketing initiatives and faster adoption cycles for C3.ai’s applications. With partnerships materially advancing customer outcomes and supporting growth across diverse industries, the company views its ecosystem strategy as a key element in shaping the next phase of expansion.
Shares of C3.ai have lost 25.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 9.5%.
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From a valuation standpoint, AI trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 5.58X, significantly below the industry’s average of 17.49X.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AI’s fiscal 2026 earnings per share implies a year-over-year downtick of 239%, while the same for fiscal 2027 indicates a surge of 65.9%.
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AI stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
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