Richard Sloan from the University of Michigan was first to document what is referred to as the "accrual anomaly". His 1996 paper found that shares of companies with small or negative accruals vastly outperform (+10%) those of companies with large ones.
C3.ai's Sloan Ratio for the quarter that ended in Apr. 2026 was -43.79%.
Warning Sign:
When sloan ratio (-43.52)% higher than 25% or lower than -25%, earnings are more likely to be made up of accruals.
As of Apr. 2026, C3.ai has a Sloan Ratio of -43.79%, indicating earnings are more likely to be made up of accruals.
C3.ai (XSWX:AI) Sloan Ratio % Explanation
A former University of Michigan researcher, Richard Sloan's 1996 paper found that shares of companies with small or negative accruals vastly outperform (+10%) those of companies with large ones. In fact, for the 40-year period between 1962 and 2001, buying the lowest accrual companies and shorting the highest accrual companies resulted in an average annual compounded return of 18%, more than double the S&P 500's 7.4% annual return over the same period.
If the Sloan Ratio is between -10% and 10%, the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
If the Sloan Ratio is less than between -25% and -10% on the negative side, and between 10% and 25% on the positive side, this is a warning stage of accrual build up.
If the Sloan Ratio is less than -25% or greater than 25%, and this ratio is consistent over several quarters or even years, be careful. Earnings are highly likely to be made up of accruals.
As of Apr. 2026, C3.ai has a Sloan Ratio of -43.79%, indicating earnings are more likely to be made up of accruals.
C3.ai Sloan Ratio % Related Terms
C3.ai Sloan Ratio % Historical Data
* Premium members only.
The historical data trend for C3.ai's Sloan Ratio % can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
XSWX:AI vs PICS, PRGS, AEVA: Sloan Ratio % Comparison
For the Software - Infrastructure subindustry, C3.ai's Sloan Ratio %, along with its competitors' market caps and Sloan Ratio % data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
C3.ai Sloan Ratio % vs Software Industry
For the Software industry and Technology sector, C3.ai's Sloan Ratio % distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where C3.ai's Sloan Ratio % falls into.
Earnings contain a lot of non cash earnings which is called accruals. The Sloan ratio is a way to identify firms with low non-cash or accrual-derived earnings relative to their cash flow.
C3.ai's Sloan Ratio for the fiscal year that ended in Apr. 2026 is calculated as
C3.ai's Net Income for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Apr. 2026 was -93.287 (Jul. 2025 ) + -83.473 (Oct. 2025 ) + -105.277 (Jan. 2026 ) + -91.022 (Apr. 2026 ) = CHF-373.1 Mil.
C3.ai's Cash Flow from Operations for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Apr. 2026 was -26.791 (Jul. 2025 ) + -37.081 (Oct. 2025 ) + -44.015 (Jan. 2026 ) + -42.877 (Apr. 2026 ) = CHF-150.8 Mil.
C3.ai's Cash Flow from Investing for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Apr. 2026 was -40.881 (Jul. 2025 ) + 49.515 (Oct. 2025 ) + 31.765 (Jan. 2026 ) + 18.846 (Apr. 2026 ) = CHF59.2 Mil.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
C3.ai (XSWX:AI) has a Sloan Ratio % of -43.79% as of Apr. 2026. Sloan ratio measures earnings quality based on the amount of accruals. View historical data on C3.ai and its competitors.
Is C3.ai's Sloan Ratio % too high?
C3.ai's current Sloan Ratio % is -43.79%. Overall, C3.ai has a GF Score™ of 54/100, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does C3.ai's Sloan Ratio % compare to PICS and PRGS?
C3.ai's Sloan Ratio % of -43.79% can be compared against companies in the Software industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Sloan Ratio % for a Software company?
A good Sloan Ratio % depends on the Software industry context. However, Sloan Ratio % should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Sloan Ratio % mean?
A high Sloan Ratio % can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. Sloan ratio measures earnings quality based on the amount of accruals. View historical data on C3.ai and its competitors. C3.ai's current Sloan Ratio % is -43.79%. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is C3.ai stock overvalued right now?
C3.ai (XSWX:AI) has a current Sloan Ratio % of -43.79%. The stock's GF Value™ is CHF13.98, compared to a current price of CHF7.36 — trading 47.4% below its estimated fair value. The current Sloan Ratio % is -43.79%. C3.ai's overall GF Score™ is 54/100 with 7 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Sloan Ratio % calculated?
Sloan Ratio % is calculated from a company's financial statements. For C3.ai (XSWX:AI), the current Sloan Ratio % is -43.79% as of Apr. 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.
Is C3.ai (XSWX:AI) Overvalued in 2026?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, C3.ai stock appears to be undervalued.
The current stock price of CHF7.36 is trading 47.4% below its estimated GF Value™ of CHF13.98.
Key valuation signals for XSWX:AI:
Sloan Ratio %: -43.79%
GF Value™: CHF13.98 vs. price of CHF7.36 (47.4% below fair value)
No single metric tells the full story. See the XSWX:AI stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.
C3.ai Inc is an enterprise artificial intelligence company. The company provides software-as-a-service applications that enable customers to rapidly develop, deploy, and operate large-scale Enterprise AI applications across any infrastructure. It provides solutions under three divisions namely, The C3 AI Platform, which is an end-to-end application development and runtime environment for designing, developing, and deploying AI applications: C3 AI Applications, which is a portfolio of pre-built, extensible, industry-specific, and application-specific Enterprise AI applications: and C3 Generative AI, which combines the utility of large language models. Geographically the company derives revenue from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World.
54GF Score
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