NEW YORK, January 30, 2026, 08:55 EST — Premarket
C3.ai Inc shares slipped roughly 2% to $12.01 in premarket on Friday, after dropping 6.6% to close at $12.26 the previous day.
Shares moved after a report from The Information that C3.ai is negotiating a merger with Automation Anywhere. The deal would involve the private automation software firm acquiring C3.ai and then going public through the merger. Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the story, and neither company responded to requests for comment. Automation Anywhere was valued at $6.8 billion by private investors back in 2019. C3.ai, which counts the U.S. Air Force among its clients, has been exploring strategic alternatives since founder Thomas Siebel stepped down as CEO. Its stock has fallen over 59% in the past year.
The timing couldn’t be worse. Software stocks dropped on Thursday amid fears that fast-moving AI innovations might upend the software-as-a-service model that drives much of the industry. “The market is … pricing a worst-case scenario that software is dead because AI is disrupting the space,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial. Reuters
C3.ai’s stock dropped 6.63% on Thursday, with roughly 10.3 million shares changing hands, well above its 50-day average volume of around 6 million, according to MarketWatch. The share price now sits roughly two-thirds below its 52-week peak of $35.98.
A reverse merger offers a shortcut to public markets: a private company acquires a listed firm and takes over its stock exchange listing, bypassing the usual initial public offering process.
C3.ai investors are left wondering about the price and conditions. The stock’s wild moves since the news hit reflect traders scrambling to gauge if the talks will actually lead somewhere—and how quickly.
Merger talks can also fall apart. If they can’t settle on valuation or deal structure, or if negotiations stall, shares might slip back to the lows from earlier this week.
Investors are waiting for a clearer signal from one of the companies. A formal announcement or a filing indicating a structured process could trigger the next step.
C3.ai’s quarterly earnings report is on deck, with Nasdaq data pointing to a release around Feb. 25.
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