C3.ai's (NYSE:AI) growing losses don't faze investors as the stock pops 17% this past week

The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But you can significantly boost your returns by picking above-average stocks. For example, the C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE:AI) share price is up 14% in the last 1 year, clearly besting the market decline of around 15% (not including dividends). So that should have shareholders smiling. Note that businesses generally develop over the long term, so the returns over the last year might not reflect a long term trend.

Since the stock has added US$410m to its market cap in the past week alone, let's see if underlying performance has been driving long-term returns.

See our latest analysis for C3.ai

Because C3.ai made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

C3.ai grew its revenue by 15% last year. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. While the share price performed well, gaining 14% over twelve months, you could argue the revenue growth warranted it. If revenue stays on trend, there may be plenty more share price gains to come. But it's crucial to check profitability and cash flow before forming a view on the future.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

C3.ai is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think C3.ai will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that C3.ai shareholders have gained 14% over the last year. And the share price momentum remains respectable, with a gain of 132% in the last three months. This suggests the company is continuing to win over new investors. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that C3.ai is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.