C3.ai (AI), a prominent player in enterprise artificial intelligence, recently sent a ripple through Wall Street with its preliminary July quarter results. The company’s own description of these outcomes as “completely unacceptable” set the tone for the turmoil that followed.

C3.ai reported expected revenue of $70.2 million to $70.4 million, down 19% year-over-year from $87.2 million in the year-ago quarter. This was well below the company's own guidance midpoint of $104.5 million.