Shares of C3.ai (NYSE: AI) have more than tripled year to date in 2023 as of this writing, leaving the high-flying enterprise AI software specialist vulnerable to bearish traders looking to poke holes in its growth story.

In particular, I've seen many skeptical investors wonder just how a cash-burning business that notably lacks significant top-line growth can trade at such a steep valuation. Indeed, revenue for C3.ai's full fiscal year 2023 (ended April 30, 2023) climbed a modest 5.6% year over year to "just" $266.8 million, leaving the stock trading hands at around 16 times trailing-12-month (TTM) sales and 12 times forward estimates.

Let's put aside the fact that C3.ai stock is also trading down more than 75% from its post-IPO highs in 2020 -- a time when shares were apparently even more egregiously overvalued and trading hands at nearly 90 times TTM sales. Valuation multiples have obviously contracted for both the market and the tech sector in particular since then.

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Source Fool.com