Data as of:
LIVE
AI
C3.ai, Inc. · Technology - Enterprise AI Applications
$10.48
+0.96% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
IOT
Samsara Inc. · Technology - Connected Operations & Industrial IoT
$39.55
+0.89% this month
Comparison scoreboard
IOT LEADS 5/5AI Scorei
AI 22.4
IOT ✓32.3
1Y Returni
AI -41.84%
IOT ✓-1.05%
Fwd P/Ei
AI -22.06
IOT ✓40.60
Target Up.i
AI -15.47%
IOT ✓+24.09%
Op. Margini
AI -186.29%
IOT ✓1.50%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/20/2026
Quick take
AI vs IOT Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
AI (C3.ai) and IOT (Samsara) are both software companies applying AI to enterprise and industrial customers but with very different business models, target markets, and growth profiles — C3.ai provides pre-built AI applications to large enterprises (utilities, oil companies, defense) and has struggled with revenue acceleration, while Samsara provides an IoT-based connected operations platform to physical operations companies (trucking, construction) with strong ARR growth and land-and-expand dynamics.
AI vs IOT is enterprise AI application software targeting large organizations with lumpy contract revenue dynamics (C3.ai's pre-built AI applications for energy, defense, and financial services — facing business model transition and competition from cloud AI giants) versus connected operations IoT platform with strong land-and-expand in physical industries (Samsara's fleet management, safety, and industrial IoT software for trucking and construction companies — delivering measurable safety ROI and strong net revenue retention) — enterprise AI ambition versus physical operations IoT traction.
Live analysis · updated 9/20/2026
IOT holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. IOT leads on both 1-year return (-1.05%) and forward P/E quality (40.60x vs -22.06x for AI), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. IOT leads on both revenue growth (30.50%) and operating margin (1.50%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for IOT (+24.09%) than for AI (-15.47%).
Normalized 1Y performance
AI
IOT
Recent returns
AI
IOT
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
AI
Price target range
analyst mean$8.91
current price$10.48
-15.5% upside to analyst mean
IOT
Price target range
analyst mean$45.66
current price$39.55
+24.1% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
AI may suit investors who:
- Believe Tom Siebel's enterprise software expertise and the C3.ai platform will ultimately penetrate large enterprise AI application deployments in energy, defense, and financial services with multi-year production contracts
- See C3.ai's consumption model transition as creating the revenue quality needed for a re-rating of the stock once growth stabilizes and pilot-to-production conversion rates improve
- Want speculative enterprise AI application exposure at a lower valuation than pure AI infrastructure plays like Palantir
IOT may suit investors who:
- Value Samsara's strong ARR growth and net revenue retention as evidence of genuine product-market fit in the physical operations market — customers are expanding usage because the product delivers measurable ROI
- Believe digitizing physical operations (trucking, construction, utilities) is a multi-decade secular opportunity with Samsara positioned as the platform of record for connected physical assets
- See Samsara's AI-powered fleet safety as both a compelling value proposition and a growing moat — trucking companies that see accident rate reductions and insurance savings create sticky long-term relationships
Performance & AI score
| Metric | AI | IOT |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 22.4 | 32.3 |
| AI ranki | #4154 | #2135 |
| Latest closei | $10.48 | $39.55 |
| 1M returni | +0.96% | +0.89% |
| 6M returni | +23.73% | +17.50% |
| 1Y returni | -41.84% | -1.05% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | AI | IOT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.82K (-41.8%) started 2025-09-18 | $9.89K (-1.1%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $2.23K (-77.7%) started 2021-09-20 | $16.01K (+60.1%) started 2021-12-15 |
| 10Y ago | $1.13K (-88.7%) started 2020-12-09 | $16.01K (+60.1%) started 2021-12-15 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | AI | IOT |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $1.69B | $21.44B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 368.00 |
| Forward P/Ei | -22.06 | 40.60 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.75 | 12.73 |
| Analyst targeti | $8.91 | $45.66 |
| Target upsidei | -15.47% | +24.09% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | AI | IOT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | -25.50% | 30.50% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growthi | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margini | +6.84% | +14.02% |
| Operating margini | -186.29% | 1.50% |
| Profit margini | -192.10% | 3.32% |
| ROIC proxyi | -59.77% | 4.36% |
| Return on equityi | -59.77% | 4.36% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 2.09 | 1.34 |
| Debt/equityi | 8.56 | 4.58 |
| Current ratioi | 6.16 | 1.62 |
| Quick ratioi | 5.96 | 1.20 |
Correlation
Over the past year, AI and IOT have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.41), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.41
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.44
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.44
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
AI max drawdowni60.53%
IOT max drawdowni46.37%
AI max wkly dropi23.41%
IOT max wkly dropi19.87%
5Y risk snapshot
AI max drawdowni84.74%
IOT max drawdowni70.38%
AI max wkly dropi32.83%
IOT max wkly dropi29.19%
10Y risk snapshot
AI max drawdowni95.63%
IOT max drawdowni70.38%
AI max wkly dropi32.83%
IOT max wkly dropi29.19%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | AI | IOT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -41.84% | -1.05% |
| CAGRi | -41.86% | -1.05% | |
| Volatilityi | 59.53% | 59.79% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.69 | 0.20 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.94 | 0.31 | |
| Max drawdowni | 60.53% | 46.37% | |
| Current drawdowni | 46.69% | 12.54% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 39.78% | 20.94% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 43.26% | 24.46% | |
| Max daily dropi | 18.53% | 8.61% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.41% | 19.87% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -77.73% | +60.12% |
| CAGRi | -25.97% | +10.40% | |
| Volatilityi | 77.63% | 65.61% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.07 | 0.41 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.10 | 0.63 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.74% | 70.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 79.39% | 35.12% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 55.02% | 31.82% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 58.03% | 37.11% | |
| Max daily dropi | 26.34% | 15.57% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 32.83% | 29.19% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | -88.67% | +60.12% |
| CAGRi | -31.42% | +10.40% | |
| Volatilityi | 80.76% | 65.61% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.13 | 0.41 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.20 | 0.63 | |
| Max drawdowni | 95.63% | 70.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 94.09% | 35.12% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 82.50% | 31.82% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 83.88% | 37.11% | |
| Max daily dropi | 26.34% | 15.57% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 32.83% | 29.19% |
Business comparison
| Category | AI | IOT |
|---|---|---|
| Company | C3.ai, Inc. | Samsara Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Infrastructure | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | C3.ai is an enterprise AI software company that provides a suite of AI applications for large organizations in energy, utilities, government, financial services, defense, manufacturing, and healthcare. C3.ai's platform includes pre-built enterprise AI applications (C3 AI Energy Management, C3 AI Fraud Detection, C3 AI Predictive Maintenance, C3 AI ESG, C3 AI Supply Chain) and an AI development platform (C3 AI Suite) allowing enterprises to build custom AI applications. C3.ai is founded by Tom Siebel (founder of Siebel Systems, the enterprise CRM company acquired by Oracle) and targets large organizations (oil companies, utilities, defense contractors, banks) rather than SMBs. | Samsara provides a Connected Operations Cloud — an IoT-based platform for physical operations businesses including trucking and logistics (GPS fleet tracking, electronic logging devices — ELD, dash cameras with AI-powered safety coaching), industrial operations (equipment monitoring, sensor data collection, environmental monitoring), and worker safety (wearable devices, site monitoring). Samsara's platform connects physical assets (vehicles, equipment, facilities, workers) to a cloud dashboard providing real-time visibility, AI-powered safety alerts (detecting distracted driving, following distance violations, harsh braking), and operational analytics. Samsara targets companies in trucking, construction, utilities, food and beverage, and field service. |
| Investor focus | Investors track C3.ai's revenue growth (a key debate point given disappointing growth in 2022-2023), the transition from large contract-based revenue (which was lumpy and unpredictable) to consumption-based model (more predictable but potentially lower near-term ARR), gross margin, and win rate of pilot programs converting to full production deployments. | Investors track Samsara's annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth, dollar-based net revenue retention (how much existing customers spend as they add more vehicles, sensors, and modules), large customer growth (customers spending $100K+ annually), gross margin, and path to profitability. |
AI strengths
- C3.ai's enterprise AI applications address specific high-value use cases (predictive maintenance, fraud detection, energy optimization) where AI provides clear quantifiable ROI for large enterprise customers
- Tom Siebel's enterprise software relationships and Siebel Systems legacy provide credibility with large enterprise and government customers — defense contracts (U.S. Air Force, Army) provide government revenue
- Partnerships with Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and Baker Hughes provide distribution channels beyond direct sales — cloud marketplace listings and system integrator relationships extend C3.ai's reach
IOT strengths
- Samsara addresses a massive fragmented physical operations market — the trucking, construction, utilities, and field service industries collectively employ tens of millions of workers and operate millions of vehicles and equipment units; digitizing physical operations with IoT is a large, underpenetrated opportunity
- Strong net revenue retention driven by multi-module land-and-expand — Samsara customers typically start with fleet GPS tracking or ELD compliance and expand to dash cameras, temperature monitoring, equipment monitoring, and worker safety over time; each module adds recurring ARR per customer
- AI-powered safety coaching creates measurable ROI — Samsara's AI dash cameras (detecting distracted driving, drowsiness, close following distance) provide quantifiable value: trucking companies reduce accident frequency and severity; insurance companies offer discounts for Samsara-equipped fleets; hard ROI is more compelling than soft productivity AI tools
Risks to watch — AI
- C3.ai has struggled to demonstrate consistent revenue acceleration — after early hype, C3.ai's revenue growth slowed significantly; the business model transition (from fixed-fee contracts to consumption-based) created near-term revenue pressure
- Competition from Microsoft (Azure OpenAI Service, Copilot for enterprise), Google (Vertex AI), and industry-specific AI vendors is intensifying — large cloud providers offer AI platforms and increasingly pre-built AI solutions that overlap with C3.ai's applications
- Customer pilots frequently do not convert to full production deployments — C3.ai wins many proofs of concept but converting to large-scale enterprise deployments has been challenging; the gap between pilot success and production rollout is a persistent concern
Risks to watch — IOT
- Competition from Verizon Connect, Geotab, and Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) — the fleet management and ELD market has established competitors with large installed bases; Samsara must compete on platform breadth and AI capabilities rather than price alone
- Gross margin improvement required for sustainable unit economics — Samsara's hardware-plus-software model means hardware costs impact gross margins; as the subscription software revenue grows relative to hardware, gross margins should improve but are not yet at pure SaaS levels
- Samsara's path to profitability has required heavy sales and marketing investment — the physical operations market requires significant inside sales and field sales effort to win and expand accounts; S&M spending has been high relative to revenue; FCF profitability timeline matters for investors
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