Looking back on data infrastructure stocks’ Q4 earnings, we examine this quarter’s best and worst performers, including C3.ai (NYSE: AI) and its peers.
Generating insights from system level data is an increasing priority for most businesses, but to do so requires connecting and analyzing piles of data stored and siloed in separate databases. This is the demand driver for cloud based data infrastructure software providers, who can more readily integrate, distribute and process information vs. legacy on-premise software providers.
The 4 data infrastructure stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.
Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 21.7% since the latest earnings results.
C3.ai (NYSE: AI)
Founded in 2009 by enterprise software veteran Tom Seibel, C3.ai (NYSE: AI) provides software that makes it easy for organizations to add artificial intelligence technology to their applications.
C3.ai reported revenues of $98.78 million, up 26% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ billings estimates.
“In the third quarter, C3 AI achieved significant milestones — expanding our global distribution network, advancing our leadership in agentic and generative AI, and delivering total revenue reaching $98.8 million, up 26% year-over-year,” said Thomas M. Siebel, Chairman and CEO, C3 AI.
C3.ai scored the fastest revenue growth of the whole group. Still, the market seems discontent with the results. The stock is down 18.1% since reporting and currently trades at $22.28.
Is now the time to buy C3.ai? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Best Q4: Elastic (NYSE: ESTC)
Started by Shay Banon as a search engine for his wife's growing list of recipes at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, Elastic (NYSE: ESTC) helps companies integrate search into their products and monitor their cloud infrastructure.
Elastic reported revenues of $382.1 million, up 16.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.5%. The business had a strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Elastic scored the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 40 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 1,460. The stock is down 18.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $83.03.
Is now the time to buy Elastic? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Weakest Q4: Teradata (NYSE: TDC)
Part of point-of-sale and ATM company NCR from 1991 to 2007, Teradata (NYSE: TDC) offers a software-as-service platform that helps organizations manage and analyze their data across multiple storages.
Teradata reported revenues of $409 million, down 10.5% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted full-year EPS guidance missing analysts’ expectations.
Teradata delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 30.6% since the results and currently trades at $21.41.
Read our full analysis of Teradata’s results here.
Confluent (NASDAQ: CFLT)
Started in 2014 by the team of engineers at LinkedIn who originally built it as an internal tool, Confluent (NASDAQ: CFLT) provides infrastructure software for organizations that makes it easy and fast to collect and move large amounts of data between different systems.
Confluent reported revenues of $261.2 million, up 22.5% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. Taking a step back, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates but revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly.
Confluent had the weakest full-year guidance update among its peers. The company added 35 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 1,381. The stock is down 22.1% since reporting and currently trades at $23.45.
Read our full, actionable report on Confluent here, it’s free.
Market Update
In response to the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has been gradually trending down from its post-pandemic peak, trending closer to the Fed’s 2% target. Despite higher borrowing costs, the economy has avoided flashing recessionary signals. This is the much-desired soft landing that many investors hoped for. The recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% in November 2024) have bolstered the stock market, making 2024 a strong year for equities. Donald Trump’s presidential win in November sparked additional market gains, sending indices to record highs in the days following his victory. However, debates continue over possible tariffs and corporate tax adjustments, raising questions about economic stability in 2025.
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