Why C3.ai Stock Is Surging Today

C3.ai (NYSE: AI) stock is soaring in Thursday's trading. The company's share price was up 9.7% as of 2:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was up roughly 0.5%.

C3.ai stock is seeing big gains on the heels of Nvidia's third-quarter report yesterday. Nvidia is the leading provider of the graphics processing units (GPUs) that are powering the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, and its performance is often viewed as a bellwether for the broader AI industry.

Nvidia's Q3 report is lifting C3.ai stock

After the market closed yesterday, Nvidia published results for the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 29. The AI leader posted sales and earnings performance for the quarter that beat Wall Street's expectations, and it also issued forward guidance that came in better than anticipated.

Nvidia posted non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.81 on sales of $35.08 billion, topping the average analyst estimate's call for adjusted earnings of $0.75 on sales of $33.16 billion. The company's revenue was up 94% year over year, and adjusted earnings per share were up 103%. Meanwhile, the average analyst estimate had called for the business to report adjusted earnings per share of $0.75 on revenue of $33.16 billion.

Nvidia expects revenue of roughly $37.5 billion for the current quarter. If the business were to hit that target, it would mean delivering annual sales growth of roughly 70%. While the company's sales growth is decelerating, the overall demand outlook for the AI space is very strong. That bodes well for C3.ai and other players, and investors are responding by bidding up the company's stock today.

What's next for C3.ai?

With its last quarterly report, C3.ai's revenue increased 21% year over year to $87.2 million. Meanwhile the business posted an adjusted loss per share of $0.05. Sales growth actually looks poised to accelerate in the near term.

For the current quarter, the company is guiding for sales to come in between $88.6 million and $93.6 million -- good for growth of roughly 24.5% at the midpoint. Meanwhile, full-year sales are projected to come in between $370 million and $395 million. If the business were to hit the midpoint of that guidance range, it would mean delivering sales growth of approximately 23%.

Along with some encouraging forward sales guidance, C3.ai has also been scoring some promising partnerships recently. The company recently announced that it's forged a new partnership with Microsoft to accelerate the adoption of enterprise AI applications, and it published a press release yesterday detailing a partnership with Capgemini targeting AI solutions for industries including life sciences, energy, utilities, government, banking, and manufacturing.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends C3.ai and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.