C3.ai Inc vs Ulta Beauty Inc — how do they compare? C3.ai Inc trades at $10.25 (market cap $1.65B), while Ulta Beauty Inc trades at $535.13 (market cap $23.27B). The key difference: Ulta Beauty Inc is far larger — about 14.1× C3.ai Inc's market cap, and Ulta Beauty Inc is trading nearer its 52-week high, C3.ai Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| AI | ULTA | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $1.65B | $23.27B |
Sector | Technology | Consumer Cyclical |
52-Week High | $19.66 | $706.82 |
52-Week Low | $7.76 | $450.75 |
Enterprise Value | $1.08B | $25.35B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
C3.ai (AI) trades at $10.25, down 1.44% on the day, with mixed technical signals showing bullish moving averages but overbought RSI readings. The company maintains strong revenue growth, reaching $389 million in 2025, but continues to report significant losses with a -74.21% net margin. Recent positive developments include being named a Leader in AI Platforms by Forrester Research.
While technical indicators suggest short-term bullish momentum, fundamental challenges persist with consistent negative profitability. The stock faces execution risk in achieving profitability despite growing enterprise AI adoption. Analyst consensus remains cautious with only 21% buy ratings and a $10.20 price target slightly below current levels.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) trades at $537.69, down 2.0% today, with a bullish technical outlook from moving averages and a consensus analyst price target of $618.29. Recent earnings show mixed quarterly beats, with Q1 2026 EPS of $7.74 exceeding expectations, while revenue growth remains steady at $11.3B for 2025. The company maintains strong profitability with a net margin of 9.36% and ROE of 47.45%, supported by an omnichannel strategy highlighted in recent news.
The stock presents a buy opportunity with Wall Street optimism (56.53% buy ratings) and solid fundamentals, but risks include margin compression from rising costs and competitive pressures. Near-term catalysts include the Q2 2026 earnings report, with expected EPS of $6.17, and the transition from the Target partnership, viewed as a growth opportunity by analysts.
Trailing returns across standard periods
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 Suite, is a comprehensive application development and runtime environment that is designed to allow customers to rapidly design, develop, and deploy Enterprise AI applications of any type
Read more on AI →With more than 1,300 stores and a partnership with Target, Ulta Beauty is the largest specialized beauty retailer in the U.S. The firm offers makeup (43% of 2021 sales), fragrances, skin care, and hair care products (20% of 2021 sales), and bath and body items. Ulta offers private-label products and merchandise from more than 500 vendors. It also offers salon services, including hair, makeup, skin, and brow services, in all stores. Most Ulta stores are approximately 10,000 square feet and are in suburban strip centers. Ulta was founded in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
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