10:57 AM EDT, 09/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- C3.ai ( AI ) faces "significant hurdles" in regaining investor confidence after a weak operational performance tied to a recent sales restructuring, Wedbush Securities said Thursday in a report.

On Wednesday, the company reported fiscal Q1 results that missed Wall Street estimates, and fiscal Q2 revenue guidance trailed expectations. C3.ai ( AI ) withdrew its fiscal 2026 guidance after the restructuring of the sales and services organization and named Stephen Ehikian as the new chief executive officer.

Wedbush said the appointment of Ehikian is a "solid hire," citing his experience with scaling artificial intelligence companies such as RelatelQ and Airkit.ai, which were both acquired by Salesforce (CRM).

Ehikian previously served as the acting administrator of the US General Services Administration and played a key role in implementing President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan, which aimed to modernize the federal procurement process.

C3.ai ( AI ) faces further moderation in gross margins in the near term on higher initial product deployments and lower economies of scale, the report said.

Wedbush lowered its price target on C3.ai ( AI ) stock to $20 from $23 and maintained its outperform rating.

C3.ai ( AI ) stock fell 4.6% in recent Thursday trading.

Price: 15.91, Change: -0.77, Percent Change: -4.64