SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) Shares Down 1.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• SoundHound AI shares fell 1.5% to $4.65 in mid-day trading, with volume down 55% from the average session.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $11.50, although several firms recently cut targets, including Piper Sandler to $6.00.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue rising 45% year over year to $61.9 million and an EPS loss of $0.02 versus estimates for a $0.13 loss, but it continues to post negative margins and analysts expect a full-year loss.

SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN - Get Free Report) fell 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $4.60 and last traded at $4.65. Approximately 12,124,652 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 26,961,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SOUN has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of SoundHound AI from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on shares of SoundHound AI in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $6.50 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded SoundHound AI from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SoundHound AI from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on SoundHound AI from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.50.

SoundHound AI Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.24 and a beta of 2.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $6.35 and a 200 day moving average of $6.97.

SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.11. SoundHound AI had a negative return on equity of 30.22% and a negative net margin of 67.45%. The firm had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. SoundHound AI's revenue for the quarter was up 45.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that SoundHound AI, Inc. will post -0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SoundHound AI

In other news, SVP Majid Emami sold 38,730 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total value of $245,160.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 834,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,280,821.49. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Keyvan Mohajer sold 137,290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total transaction of $869,045.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,684,947 shares in the company, valued at $23,325,714.51. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 288,758 shares of company stock valued at $1,828,598. 8.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SoundHound AI

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SOUN. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of SoundHound AI by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 767,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,270,000 after buying an additional 27,300 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of SoundHound AI by 25.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 440,023 shares of the company's stock worth $3,023,000 after buying an additional 87,998 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of SoundHound AI by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 179,327 shares of the company's stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 6,096 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of SoundHound AI by 395.6% in the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 254,744 shares of the company's stock worth $1,648,000 after buying an additional 203,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in SoundHound AI during the first quarter worth about $1,606,000. 19.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SoundHound AI Company Profile

SoundHound AI, Inc develops voice artificial intelligence technologies that enable people to interact with products and services using natural language. Its platform is designed to understand conversational speech, answer questions, and support voice-enabled experiences across automotive, restaurant, consumer electronics and other industries.

The company's offerings include the Houndify voice AI platform, which businesses can use to build customized voice assistants, and SoundHound Chat AI, a conversational assistant designed to provide responses and complete tasks through voice interaction.

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