JPMorgan이 C3.ai 투자의견을 중립에서 비중축소로 하향
목표주가는 28달러 유지 (현재가 대비 33% 하락여력)
2024년 들어 주가 45% 상승
기업 규모가 경쟁사의 1/5 수준이지만 성장률은 비슷한 수준
최근 매출 성장은 높은 비용을 동반하며 달성
Opinion
C3.ai는 인공지능이라는 거대하고 빠르게 성장하는 시장을 공략하고 있지만, 현재의 밸류에이션은 과도하게 높은 수준입니다. 특히 불안정한 성장세와 낮은 마진은 우려할 만한 요소입니다. 최근의 매출 성장이 긍정적으로 보이는 것은 작년의 낮은 기저효과 때문이며, 실제로는 높은 비용을 투입해 달성한 결과라는 점에서 질적인 성장으로 보기 어렵습니다.
Core Sell Point
C3.ai의 과도한 밸류에이션과 비효율적인 성장 구조로 인해 JPMorgan이 투자의견을 저평가로 하향했습니다
C3.ai ’s current trading price looks lofty compared to its growth potential, according to JPMorgan. The firm downgraded shares of the enterprise artificial intelligence software company to an underweight rating from neutral. JPMorgan left its $28 price target unchanged, implying that the stock could tumble 33% from its Tuesday closing price. Shares of C3.ai have soared 45% in 2024. Analyst Pinjalim Bora said that the downgrade was largely based on the stock’s valuation, which he now considers to be stretched. AI YTD mountain C3.ai YTD graph “Given the already rich valuation, which is likely already pricing in a much better growth-plus-profile, which we find difficult to underwrite currently, we expect shares to underperform our coverage for 2025,” the analyst wrote. “While we understand that C3.ai is going after a massive and rapidly evolving opportunity around Artificial Intelligence, we think its uneven and subpar growth-plus-margin performance leaves a lot to be desired, and it remains a big outlier compared to a broader base of peers trading at over 10x FTM revenue.” While Bora commended the company for improving its revenue growth as of late, the analyst added that this growth has come at high incremental costs and looks more impressive considering the firm’s muted growth in year-ago quarters. Bora also pointed out that C3 is much smaller in scale, but still growing at the same rate as peers that are five times larger.
