SoundHound AI Shares Experience Price Surge Following Analyst Upgrade

On January 15, 2025, shares of SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN) experienced a noticeable jump before the market opened. This surge was attributed to Northland Securities increasing their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $8.00. Prior to the market's opening, the stock had closed at $12.82 but opened significantly higher at $13.56. As trading continued, SoundHound AI shares reached a last traded price of $14.11, with an impressive trading volume of 14,003,609 shares.

Other research firms have also weighed in on SoundHound AI's stock. Barclays maintained a "neutral" rating and assigned a price target of $7.00 in a report dated November 13, 2023. DA Davidson took a more optimistic view, reiterating a "buy" rating with a target of $9.50 back on September 30, 2023. Additionally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH also reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a price target of $7.00 the same day as Barclays. Further encouraging news came from Wedbush, which increased its price target from $10.00 to $22.00 while providing an "outperform" rating on December 16, 2023. Lastly, HC Wainwright issued a "buy" rating along with a higher price target of $26.00 recently. There have been three analysts who rated the stock as a hold and four others that consider it a buy. As of now, the average rating for SoundHound AI is "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $12.36, according to MarketBeat.

Insider Activity at SoundHound AI

In related news, recent insider transactions have occurred at SoundHound AI. Director Lawrence Marcus sold 30,000 shares of SoundHound AI on November 21, 2023, at an average price of $7.15, resulting in total proceeds of $214,500. Following this transaction, Marcus's direct ownership in the company decreased to 178,117 shares, valued at about $1,273,536.55. This sale represented a drop of 14.41% in ownership. Another significant transaction was made by VP Majid Emami, who sold 37,459 shares on December 20, 2023, at an average price of $20.30. This resulted in a total transaction value of $760,417.70, leaving Emami with 698,226 shares valued at approximately $14,173,987.80, representing a 5.09% decrease in his ownership. Over the past three months, insiders have collectively sold 2,782,918 shares amounting to $45,391,343, with insiders currently owning 12.28% of the company.

Institutional Investor Activity

Institutional investors have also taken action regarding SoundHound AI’s stock. For instance, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings by 33.2% during the fourth quarter by purchasing an additional 750 shares, bringing their total to 3,008 shares valued at $60,000. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings by 11.0% in the third quarter, now owning 19,000 shares worth $89,000 after acquiring 1,887 additional shares. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake by 13.0% in the same quarter, acquiring an additional 1,975 shares to hold 17,150 shares valued at $80,000. Moreover, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings by 19.5%, purchasing an extra 2,000 shares to total 12,255 shares worth $57,000. Future Financial Wealth Management LLC also bought a new stake in the fourth quarter estimated to be around $40,000. Institutional ownership in SoundHound AI stands at 19.28% currently.

Current Stock Performance

The stock price of SoundHound AI has been somewhat volatile, recently down by 0.2%. The company’s fifty-day moving average sits at $13.59, while its two-hundred-day moving average is at $7.97. SoundHound AI exhibits a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.58, and a current ratio also at 2.58. The market capitalization of the firm stands at approximately $4.73 billion, alongside a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of -35.53 and a beta value of 2.63.

In their last earnings announcement dated November 12, 2023, SoundHound AI reported earnings of ($0.06) per share, slightly better than the consensus estimate of ($0.07). Revenue for the quarter was reported at $25.10 million, surpassing the expected $23.02 million. Despite these positive figures, the company revealed a negative net margin of 163.58% and a negative return on equity of 55.58%, although revenue growth has increased by 88.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast SoundHound AI, Inc. to report earnings of -0.38 per share for the current fiscal year.

About SoundHound AI

SoundHound AI, Inc. focuses on developing independent voice artificial intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at enhancing conversational experiences for businesses across diverse sectors including automotive, television, Internet of Things (IoT), and customer service. Their offerings include the Houndify platform, which provides tools to create custom voice assistants, APIs for both text and voice queries, extensive domain content libraries, software development kits, and analytics capabilities. Other products include SoundHound Chat AI, which provides real-time data integration across various domains, and SoundHound Smart Answering, designed for businesses to implement custom AI voice assistants.

SoundHound, Stocks, Analysts