Deliverect a SoundHound AI oznámily partnerství, které má plně automatizovat hlasové objednávky v restauracích od hovoru až po předání do kuchyně. Systém má fungovat ve více než 100 jazycích a napojit se na více než 550 POS integrací.
The integration creates a seamless, automated path from a customer's first voice interaction to kitchen fulfillment, across drive-thru, phone, kiosk, and in-car channels, in more than 100 languages.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Deliverect, the global restaurant technology platform serving more than 80,000 locations worldwide, today announced a partnership with SoundHound AI (Nasdaq: SOUN), a global leader in voice and agentic AI, to fully automate restaurant voice ordering from the moment a customer speaks to the moment the kitchen receives the order.
The integration connects SoundHound Smart Ordering directly to Deliverect's order and menu management platform. SoundHound's voice AI agents pull real-time menu and location data from Deliverect, capture orders flawlessly across every voice channel, and route them straight to kitchen fulfillment through Deliverect's certified POS integrations. Voice in, order out, with no manual re-entry, no handoff errors, and no added burden on restaurant teams.
Closing the gap between a customer's voice and the kitchen
Until now, the journey from a spoken order to the kitchen has involved staff, manual re-entry, and multiple points of failure. During peak hours, when teams are stretched thin, that fragility translates directly into lost revenue: missed or abandoned phone calls, order errors, and inconsistent experiences across drive-thru, phone, kiosk, and digital channels.
The partnership eliminates those failure points by turning the entire journey into a single automated loop. AI voice agents answer every call and capture every order, while menu accuracy is maintained in real time directly from Deliverect, with no manual updates needed across channels.
For operators, the outcomes are tangible: higher order capture rates with no missed calls, consistent upselling and limited-time-offer promotion across every ordering channel, faster throughput and reduced wait times, and staff freed up from answering phones to focus on cooking and taking care of guests in person.
Any market, any POS, no custom builds
Historically, one of the biggest obstacles to scaling voice ordering internationally has been the cost and complexity of building direct POS integrations market by market. Deliverect removes
that obstacle. With more than 550 POS integrations across over 50 countries, Smart Ordering can go live in any market, on virtually any POS, without custom development.
Combined with support for more than 100 languages, the partnership gives international restaurant groups a future-proof ordering infrastructure that scales across channels, markets, and languages, without rebuilding for every new touchpoint or region. As customer expectations shift toward voice-first and self-service experiences, operators running Deliverect and Smart Ordering are already there.
Mike Lauricella, VP of Channel Partnerships at SoundHound AI, said: "The future of restaurant hospitality relies on automation and convenience. Partnering with Deliverect allows us to deeply embed SoundHound's AI voice agents into the restaurant tech stack. By syncing critical menu and location data, our AI voice agents can handle order placement flawlessly, reducing front-of-house strain and delivering a seamless customer experience."
Don MacMillan, Head of Partnerships for the US and Canada at Deliverect, said: "Voice is the oldest ordering channel in the restaurant business, and until now it's been the least automated. This partnership changes that. By connecting SoundHound's AI voice agents directly to Deliverect, every spoken order, whether it comes through the drive-thru, a phone call, or a kiosk, flows straight into the kitchen with the same accuracy and speed as a digital order. For operators, that means no more missed calls, no more re-keying, and teams that can focus on hospitality instead of handsets. It's a major step toward the fully connected restaurant we're building with our partners."
About SoundHound AI
SoundHound AI (Nasdaq: SOUN) is a voice and agentic AI company that enables businesses to deliver natural, end-to-end conversational experiences across digital and physical channels, including phones, kiosks, chat, smart devices, drive-thrus, TVs, in-vehicle, and more. Its agentic platform, OASYS, is a self-learning, orchestrated AI system where organizations can build and deploy conversational AI agents to handle transactions, tasks, and workflows on behalf of customers and employees. Built on proprietary technology backed by 400+ patents and years of AI research, SoundHound serves leading brands across industries including automotive, financial services, healthcare, retail, telecommunications, and more. It powers millions of products and processes billions of interactions annually for enterprise customers worldwide. Learn more at: www.soundhound.com
About Deliverect
Deliverect is a global restaurant technology company that connects digital ordering channels directly to in-store operations, serving more than 80,000 restaurant locations worldwide. With an API-first platform and over 1,000 certified integrations, Deliverect streamlines digital ordering across carryout, delivery, catering, and in-store fulfillment. It is the only digital ordering platform to have earned DoorDash's Excellent integration rating. By leveraging AI-driven innovation, Deliverect empowers restaurants to anticipate demand, recover lost revenue, and grow smarter at scale. The company processes 30 million API calls daily, has powered 1.5+ billion orders to date, and is trusted by many of the world's largest and most innovative restaurant brands. To learn more, visit deliverect.com.
SoundHound rozšiřuje restaurační automatizaci prostřednictvím OASYS a tvrdí, že AI drive-thru u velkého zákazníka z oblasti QSR přinesly vyšší tržby než srovnatelné provozovny. Ve 1. čtvrtletí 2026 tržby meziročně vzrostly o 52 % a hotovost činila zhruba 216 milionů USD bez dluhu.
Key Takeaways SoundHound is expanding restaurant automation with OASYS across drive-thrus, kiosks, phones and chat.AI-enabled drive-thru locations generated higher revenues for a major QSR customer than comparable stores.First-quarter 2026 revenues rose 52%, while cash reached about $216 million with no debt. SoundHound AI (SOUN - Free Report) is strengthening its position as a leading provider of AI-powered restaurant automation, making 2026 an important year for the company. While SoundHound is still expanding beyond its automotive roots, its growing traction in restaurants, combined with new agentic AI capabilities, could make it one of the industry's key disruptors.
A major catalyst is SoundHound's newly launched OASYS platform, a self-learning agentic AI system that allows businesses to build, deploy and continuously improve AI agents across drive-thrus, kiosks, phones, web, chat and other customer touchpoints. This unified platform significantly reduces deployment time while enabling restaurants to automate ordering, customer service and workflow management with minimal manual intervention.
The company's restaurant momentum is also becoming increasingly tangible. Management noted that a major quick-service restaurant (QSR) customer found AI-enabled drive-thru locations generated higher revenues than comparable stores without SoundHound's technology. The company also reported rising cross-selling opportunities among restaurant customers and growing adoption of its Voice Insights analytics platform, suggesting that customers are expanding beyond initial deployments.
Another potential growth driver is the planned acquisition of LivePerson. Once completed, the transaction will combine SoundHound's voice AI with LivePerson's digital messaging capabilities, enabling restaurants to offer seamless customer interactions across voice, text and chat. The acquisition is also expected to expand cross-selling opportunities while broadening the company's enterprise customer base.
Financially, SoundHound appears well positioned to support these initiatives. First-quarter 2026 revenues rose 52% year over year to a record level, the company ended the quarter with approximately $216 million in cash and no debt, and management reaffirmed its full-year revenue outlook of $225-$260 million.
Although continued losses and execution risks around integrating LivePerson remain challenges, SoundHound's expanding restaurant footprint, differentiated voice AI technology and growing enterprise ecosystem position it well to become a meaningful force in restaurant automation during 2026.
Restaurant AI Competition Is IntensifyingNCR Voyix (VYX - Free Report) is one of SoundHound's strongest competitors in restaurant automation due to its extensive restaurant software ecosystem spanning point-of-sale, payment processing, self-service kiosks and digital ordering. NCR Voyix has deep relationships with leading restaurant chains and continues to enhance its AI-driven ordering and operational capabilities.
While NCR Voyix primarily focuses on restaurant commerce infrastructure, it is still expanding its conversational AI capabilities. This creates an opportunity for the company to compete directly with SoundHound as restaurants increasingly seek integrated voice-enabled ordering and customer engagement solutions.
Par Technology (PAR - Free Report) is another major rival, offering cloud-based restaurant management software, digital ordering, loyalty programs, back-office solutions and restaurant analytics. Through acquisitions and continued product development, Par Technology has built a comprehensive platform serving thousands of restaurant locations.
As restaurants increasingly adopt AI to improve order accuracy, labor productivity and customer experience, Par Technology is embedding more automation across its software suite. While Par Technology offers a broad restaurant operating platform, SoundHound differentiates itself with its proprietary voice AI, agentic AI platform and drive-thru automation capabilities, positioning the company to capture a larger share of AI-first restaurant deployments.
SOUN’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesSoundHound shares have lost 34.2% year to date (YTD), underperforming the industry, as shown below:
SOUN’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, SOUN trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 11.18, slightly above the industry’s average.
SOUN’s P/S Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SoundHound’s 2026 loss per share has remained unchanged at 18 cents, as shown below. The expected loss also remains wider than the previous year’s loss of 13 cents.
SoundHound AI je letos dole o 37 % a obchoduje se 68 % pod rekordem z roku 2024. Tržby v 1. čtvrtletí vzrostly o 52 % na rekordních 44,2 milionu USD, ale tempo růstu zpomaluje.
While many artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are outperforming the broader market right now, not every name in this space has been a winner. SoundHound AI (SOUN +3.08%) stock is down 37% this year, and it recenty was trading 68% below its 2024 record high.
SoundHound AI is a leading developer of conversational AI software, which is currently used by some of the world's biggest brands across industries such as automotive manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare, and more.
Investors have trimmed their exposure to its stock because of its sky-high valuation, but it's starting to look attractive after its recent losses. Is it time to buy the dip?
Image source: The Motley Fool.
SoundHound is rapidly expanding SoundHound developed a series of in-house conversational AI software products. They include Dynamic Drive-Thru and Dynamic Kiosk for quick-service restaurants, which autonomously take customer orders so employees can focus on other tasks. Then there is the Voice AI platform, which allows car brands to install highly intuitive voice-activated AI experiences into their vehicles.
But SoundHound also expanded over the last few years by acquiring other companies. It bought rival conversational AI company Amelia in 2024, and it recently launched the Amelia 7 platform, which businesses can use to build custom AI agents to serve customers or help employees streamline their workflows. Resorts World Las Vegas uses Amelia to autonomously handle more than half of its incoming customer calls, freeing up employees to provide guests with high-touch luxury experiences.
In April of this year, SoundHound announced plans to acquire LivePerson, which built an AI-powered digital engagement platform that processes message conversations on behalf of businesses and their customers. It powers more than 1 billion messages per month across websites, social media, and chat applications, saving valuable time that would otherwise be spent managing phone calls or email correspondence.
SoundHound's revenue growth is fast, but slowing SoundHound's revenue soared by 52% year over year during the first quarter of 2026, to come in at a record $44.2 million. While that sounds like a spectacular result, the company's revenue grew at a much faster pace of 151% during the same quarter of 2025. Some investors might be concerned about the apparent loss of momentum, which is one reason for the steep decline in SoundHound stock.
However, the recent acquisition of LivePerson is about to provide a temporary boost to SoundHound's financial results. Management estimates the company's annual revenue will come in somewhere between $225 million and $260 million in 2026, but that number could grow to $400 million in 2027 once LivePerson's revenue is included. Management says there could be as much as $100 million in potential upside, depending on operational performance.
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While that is great news, investors also have to keep an eye on SoundHound's mounting losses, because scaling an AI business isn't cheap. During the first quarter, the company suffered a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net loss of $25 million and an adjusted net loss of $26.5 million. Both figures worsened from the same quarter last year.
SoundHound had $216 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand as of March 31, so it can afford to lose money at the current pace for at least the next year or so. But if it isn't profitable by then, it might have to raise more money, diluting existing shareholders and hurting their future potential returns.
SoundHound stock isn't cheap just yet, but it's getting there SoundHound had a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of around 100 when its stock peaked in late 2024, which made it extremely expensive. For some context, the Nasdaq-100 technology index currently trades at a P/S ratio of just 6.4.
But the combination of SoundHound's revenue growth and the 68% decline in its stock has pushed its P/S ratio down to a more reasonable level of around 15.
SOUN PS Ratio data by YCharts
SoundHound isn't necessarily cheap just yet, but if we assume the company will generate $400 million in revenue next year, as management expects, then its forward P/S ratio is just 7.2. That is quite attractive given how fast SoundHound is expanding. Plus, AI software is likely to touch every industry in the future, so the company could have an enormous addressable market.
Nevertheless, SoundHound is still in the early stages of commercializing its product portfolio, so investors who buy its stock today should maintain a five-year time horizon to smooth out any potential volatility and maximize their chances of earning a positive return. It's also a good idea to keep a small position, just in case this opportunity doesn't work out.
SoundHound AI rozšiřuje hlasovou AI do platebních transakcí, takže může vydělávat i na samotných nákupech, ne jen na licencích softwaru. Zároveň roste napříč auty, restauracemi, maloobchodem i zákaznickou podporou.
Voice recognition technology has a long history of overpromising, so a little skepticism is healthy here. But SoundHound AI (SOUN 0.60%) has turned into one of the more interesting independent players in conversational artificial intelligence (AI). It's the software that lets you talk to a car, a drive-thru speaker, or a customer-service line and actually be understood.
The stock has been on a volatile ride, and it remains a speculative, small-company bet. Still, three developments in its business help explain why some investors think the climb isn't over.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Agentic voice commerce opens a new way to make money The most important shift involves what the company's technology now does. For years, voice assistants mostly answered questions.
SoundHound is pushing into what the industry calls agentic AI -- software that doesn't just respond but takes action on your behalf. At the start of 2026, the company showed off voice agents built into vehicles and TVs that can order takeout, book a restaurant table through OpenTable, pay for parking, and buy tickets, all hands-free.
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Why does that matter for the stock? Because it changes how the company can earn revenue. Instead of only licensing software, sitting in the middle of a purchase lets it participate in the transaction itself. If even a fraction of the millions of cars and devices running its technology start completing everyday errands by voice, it taps a far larger opportunity than selling software licenses alone.
2. SoundHound is no longer a one-industry bet A common knock on smaller AI companies is that they lean on a single customer or single market. SoundHound has spent the past couple of years deliberately spreading out. Its voice technology now shows up on automotive dashboards, in restaurant drive-thrus and ordering kiosks, on the retail sales floor through a new store-associate assistant it unveiled this year, and across businesses' customer service.
That diversification is more than a talking point. When one industry slows -- say, automakers pull back on new features -- another can pick up the slack, which makes the overall business sturdier. To me, a company selling the same core capability into four or five very different industries is simply harder to knock off course than one riding a single wave.
3. Customers are expanding their usage, not just signing up The most encouraging signal for any young software company is when existing customers choose to do more business with it, not less. SoundHound got a clear vote of confidence this spring when Casey's General Stores, one of the largest convenience-store chains in the country, renewed and expanded its partnership, rolling the technology across more than 2,600 locations after its ordering agents had already handled tens of millions of guest interactions. That kind of land-and-expand behavior suggests the product is actually working in the field.
SoundHound has also moved to acquire enterprise conversational-AI company LivePerson, which would plug SoundHound's newer agentic platform into a large base of established corporate customers. Buying reach like that can shorten the path to winning big-ticket enterprise deals.
The risks worth keeping in view Now for the sober side, because it's substantial. SoundHound is still unprofitable and spends heavily to grow, and its stock trades at a rich valuation against a still-modest revenue base -- the kind of situation that can cause shares to fall hard on any disappointment.
A meaningful chunk of the company's ambitious targets leans on acquisitions like LivePerson going smoothly, which is never guaranteed. And SoundHound competes in the same arena as Amazon and Apple, giants with far deeper pockets. Any of those could pressure the story.
SoundHound AI is a classic high-risk, high-reward choice. The bull case rests on real business progress: a shift toward transaction-driven agentic AI, genuine diversification across industries, and customers expanding their commitments. The bear case rests on valuation, cash burn, and deep-pocketed competition.
SoundHound AI v roce 2025 zvýšila tržby o 99 % na 168,9 milionu USD, především díky předplatnému. Firma se zároveň posouvá od automobilového hlasového AI k podnikovým službám.
Key Takeaways SOUN is shifting beyond automotive voice AI into enterprise customer service and workflow use cases.Subscriptions drove SOUN's 2025 revenues, rising as part of a 99% total revenue jump to $168.9M.OASYS and the planned LivePerson deal may expand SOUN's enterprise reach and cross-selling potential. SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN - Free Report) is no longer just an automotive voice-assistant story. The company’s investor debate now centers on whether broader enterprise adoption can support durable revenue growth.
The opportunity is clear, but so are the risks. SoundHound is expanding across restaurants, healthcare, retail, financial services, telecom and other verticals while still operating at a loss.
SoundHound Pushes Beyond AutomotiveSoundHound positions itself as an independent conversational intelligence platform for enterprises. Its pitch is that businesses can build branded assistants and customer-facing AI experiences without relying fully on third-party ecosystems.
The product set now spans Smart Answering, Smart Ordering, Dynamic Interaction, Employee Assist and SoundHound Chat AI. That broader portfolio shifts the business identity away from a narrower automotive focus and toward enterprise customer service, ordering, workflow and digital interaction use cases.
SOUN Finds Growth in Service SubscriptionsThe revenue mix is central to the SOUN thesis. Total revenues in 2025 rose 99% to $168.9 million from $84.7 million in 2024.
Service subscriptions accounted for $133.5 million of 2025 revenues, compared with product royalties of $34.9 million and monetization revenues of $0.5 million. That mix highlights why investors are focused on recurring enterprise demand as the main growth engine.
SoundHound Builds a Wider AI PlatformSoundHound’s technology stack includes Speech-to-Meaning, Deep Meaning Understanding, Collective AI, Dynamic Interaction and hybrid Edge+Cloud deployment. These capabilities are designed to support faster natural-language understanding, low-latency performance and flexible deployment across customer environments.
The company reported more than 359 granted patents and more than 100 pending patents as of 2025. For enterprises, the strategic value is control: branded assistants can be customized around customer experience, data, workflow and monetization priorities.
SOUN Has Catalysts but Also Integration RiskOASYS is a major catalyst in SoundHound’s next phase. The platform is designed to help businesses build, orchestrate, evaluate and improve AI agents across voice, chat and digital channels.
The planned LivePerson acquisition adds another layer to the opportunity. SoundHound expects the deal to expand its enterprise footprint, create cross-selling opportunities and support a combined revenue opportunity of about $500 million.
Still, the story is not de-risked. Persistent operating losses, long enterprise sales cycles, acquisition integration demands, fierce AI competition and continued investment needs remain key concerns.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) also frame the competitive backdrop. Microsoft markets Microsoft 365 Copilot as an enterprise AI tool with access to agents and work-data integrations, while Salesforce markets Agentforce as a platform for building, deploying and managing AI agents at scale.
What SOUN Signals Say About the SetupThe bottom line is that SoundHound has a more interesting business narrative than it did when investors viewed it mainly through automotive voice AI. Enterprise AI adoption, subscription growth, OASYS and acquisition-driven cross-selling all support the long-term case.
The stock, however, currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). It also has a Value Score of F, a Growth Score of F, a Momentum Score of C and a VGM Score of F. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Zacks Style Scores are graded from A to F, with stronger scores generally indicating more favorable characteristics for the relevant style category. SOUN’s current mix suggests that, despite the attractive enterprise AI narrative, the near-term stock profile still reflects caution around execution, profitability and valuation.
SoundHound ve 1. čtvrtletí 2026 zvýšil tržby o 52 % na 44,2 mil. USD a potvrdil celoroční výhled 225–260 mil. USD. Zůstává ale ve ztrátě a má záporný provozní peněžní tok.
Key Takeaways SOUN posted 52% revenue growth in Q1 2026 and reaffirmed $225M-$260M full-year guidance.SoundHound's losses and negative operating cash flow cloud the case despite strong AI adoption.SOUN's debt-free balance sheet offers support, but valuation and stock signals limit near-term comfort. SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN - Free Report) offers one of the clearer growth-versus-risk debates in enterprise AI. Revenue growth, broader adoption of conversational AI and a debt-free balance sheet keep the bull case alive.
The hesitation is equally visible. Losses, negative operating cash flow and weak stock signals make SOUN difficult to call a straightforward buy, even with long-term AI demand still in focus.
SOUN Revenue Growth Keeps the Bull Case AliveFirst-quarter 2026 revenues reached $44.2 million, up 52% year over year. Management also reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $225 million to $260 million, suggesting the growth plan remains intact.
Underlying demand was not limited to acquired revenue. Excluding acquisitions, core automotive and IoT AI revenues rose 88% year over year, pointing to continued adoption in SoundHound’s original growth pillars.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) remains a relevant reference point for AI investors because its computing platforms sit closer to the infrastructure layer. C3.ai, Inc. (AI - Free Report) offers another comparison as an enterprise AI software name, but SoundHound’s case rests more directly on voice, agentic AI and customer-interaction use cases.
SoundHound Losses Cloud the Investment CaseRevenue growth has not translated into profitability. SoundHound posted a first-quarter 2026 GAAP net loss of $25 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $26.7 million.
Cash flow also moved in the wrong direction. Net cash used in operating activities was $26.3 million, compared with $19.2 million in the prior-year period. GAAP gross margin declined to 31.1% from 36.5%, as vendor-related true-ups and spending pressure weighed on the quarter.
That makes SOUN a classic growth-versus-profitability stock. Investors are being asked to underwrite future scale while current results still show heavy investment needs.
SOUN Valuation Looks Neither Cheap nor BrokenSOUN trades at 11.45X forward 12-month sales. That is roughly in line with the sub-industry average of 11.64X but above the broader sector and S&P 500 levels.
The stock also carries a $7 price target, modestly above the recent $6.68 stock price. That setup does not point to an obvious bargain, but it also does not suggest valuation has completely detached from its peer framework.
For investors seeking a clear value case, the multiple leaves little margin for disappointment. For growth investors, the valuation may be tolerable only if revenue expansion continues and losses narrow over time.
SoundHound Balance Sheet Offers Real SupportSoundHound’s balance sheet is the main offset to the loss profile. The company ended the first quarter of 2026 with $215.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt.
That liquidity gives management room to fund product innovation, support acquisition integration and pursue commercialization without immediate balance-sheet strain. The company also had total current assets of $288.8 million and stockholders’ equity of $460.7 million.
This matters because the AI opportunity may take time to convert into durable earnings. A debt-free balance sheet does not solve profitability, but it gives SoundHound more time to try.
How SOUN Ratings Frame the Risk RewardThe bottom line is that SOUN looks mixed rather than clearly attractive. Revenue growth and cash resources support the long-term case, while losses, cash burn and valuation limit the near-term comfort level.
SOUN currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). That rank points to weak near-term positioning and makes the stock less suitable for investors who rely on earnings estimate revision trends as a first screen.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Style Scores reinforce that caution. SoundHound has a Value Score of F, a Growth Score of F, a Momentum Score of C and a VGM Score of F. Since stronger scores are generally more favorable, those grades suggest SOUN does not currently screen well for value, growth-at-a-reasonable-price or broad style-based investors.
That does not erase the company’s AI opportunity. It does argue for patience until profitability, cash flow or stock signals show clearer improvement. For now, SOUN is more of a watchlist candidate than a decisive buy.
SoundHound rozšiřuje svou voice AI platformu OASYS na agentic AI pro voice, chat i digitální kanály. V 1. čtvrtletí 2026 tržby meziročně vzrostly o 52 % na 44,2 mil. USD, ale firma stále vykázala čistou ztrátu.
Key Takeaways SoundHound is shifting from voice recognition toward broader conversational and agentic AI platforms.OASYS is positioned to help businesses build and improve AI agents across voice, chat and digital channels.SOUN's losses, margin pressure, acquisition integration and competition remain key execution tests. SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN - Free Report) sits at the center of a shift from narrow voice tools to broader conversational and agentic artificial intelligence platforms. The investment case is no longer just about voice recognition. It is about whether SOUN can convert enterprise demand into scalable, recurring software revenue.
That trend gives SoundHound a clear growth narrative. It also raises a harder stock question: can the company turn platform expansion, acquisitions and new products into better margins and steadier execution?
SoundHound Rides Enterprise AI AdoptionEnterprises are adopting conversational and agentic artificial intelligence across voice, chat and digital channels. SoundHound has expanded beyond its historical automotive base into restaurants, retail, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications and energy.
That broader reach matters because it reduces dependence on a single end market. In the first quarter of 2026, revenues rose 52% year over year to $44.2 million, while core automotive and Internet of Things artificial intelligence revenues, excluding acquisitions, increased 88%.
Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) is also relevant to this trend because its artificial intelligence strategy includes enterprise workflow, healthcare and productivity use cases. IBM (IBM - Free Report) provides another comparison point through its focus on artificial intelligence agents and workflow automation for enterprises.
SOUN Turns OASYS Into a Key Trend MarkerOASYS is becoming the clearest marker of SoundHound’s move toward agentic artificial intelligence. The platform is designed to help businesses build, orchestrate, evaluate and improve artificial intelligence agents across voice, chat and digital channels.
The strategic appeal is faster implementation. Management has positioned OASYS as a way for businesses to move from months-long builds to faster deployments, while also lowering operating costs and making agents better over time through usage.
That puts SOUN in a market where enterprises increasingly want unified platforms rather than isolated tools. NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) remains an important part of the broader enterprise artificial intelligence discussion because infrastructure and software platforms are central to scaling agentic workloads.
SoundHound Uses M&A to Broaden Its ReachAcquisitions are central to SoundHound’s platform-breadth strategy. SYNQ3 added restaurant-focused voice artificial intelligence capabilities, Amelia expanded the company into full-stack enterprise agentic artificial intelligence, and Interactions added customer-service and workflow-orchestration capabilities.
The planned LivePerson acquisition is another step in that direction. It is expected to expand SoundHound’s digital messaging and enterprise customer footprint, creating cross-selling opportunities across voice, messaging and agentic artificial intelligence.
This matters because platform breadth is becoming a competitive requirement. Enterprises want systems that can handle contact-center inquiries, ordering, transactions, workflow automation and customer engagement across multiple channels.
SOUN Still Faces Margin and Execution TestsThe opportunity remains balanced by clear operating risks. SoundHound posted a GAAP net loss of $25 million in the first quarter of 2026 and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $26.7 million.
Margins also showed pressure. GAAP gross margin fell to 31.1% from 36.5% a year earlier, while non-GAAP gross margin was 49.7%, compared with 50.8% in the prior-year period.
Competition is another concern. Large technology companies and specialized artificial intelligence vendors are investing aggressively, while long enterprise sales cycles can delay revenue conversion. SoundHound also needs continued research and development spending to keep pace with fast-moving voice, generative and agentic artificial intelligence markets.
Commercialization risk is still part of the story. OASYS, Dynamic Interaction and broader agentic offerings may become future growth drivers, but adoption, customer acceptance and recurring revenue generation are still developing.
Why SOUN Ratings Temper the Trend NarrativeThe bottom line is that SoundHound has meaningful exposure to conversational and agentic artificial intelligence, but the stock still needs execution to catch up with the trend. Revenue growth, product expansion and acquisition-driven scale are encouraging, yet losses, integration risk and competitive pressure remain material.
SOUN currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). The stock also has a Value Score of F, a Growth Score of F and a Momentum Score of C. These scores suggest that, despite the company’s industry positioning, shares do not currently screen well on valuation or growth characteristics, while momentum is more neutral.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
For investors, that creates a measured setup. SoundHound may remain a closely watched artificial intelligence name, but the Zacks Rank and Style Scores point to caution until operating leverage, platform monetization and acquisition integration show clearer progress.
SoundHound AI na začátku roku otevřel na 10,29 USD a na konci června uzavřel na 6,47 USD, což za první pololetí znamenalo pokles zhruba o 37 %, i přes růst tržeb o 99 % na 168,9 milionu USD v roce 2025. Investory dál trápí ztráta 25 milionů USD za první čtvrtletí a chystaná akvizice LivePerson za 43 milionů USD.
On Jan. 2, SoundHound AI (SOUN +6.26%) stock opened at $10.29. On June 30, it closed at $6.47. For the first six months of the year, that represents a loss of roughly 37%, a tough start for anyone who invested at the beginning of the year.
The decline was due to several factors. And while there is an opportunity for the stock to rebound in the second half, it's going to be an uphill battle.
Image source: Getty Images.
Purchasing $5,000 worth of SoundHound stock at $10.29 would have given an investor roughly 485 shares. By June 30, the end of the first half of the year, that stake would have been worth roughly $3,143.
There's been a lot weighing on the stock price during that time, including concerns over the company's continued unprofitability, worries about shareholder dilution, and fears about the impacts of a high-risk, but potentially high-reward, acquisition.
On the positive side, SoundHound AI keeps posting impressive revenue totals: In 2025, the top line increased 99% to $168.9 million, and first-quarter 2026 revenue increased 52% to $44.2 million.
The issue, however, is that more investors want to see artificial intelligence (AI) companies showing signs that they are headed toward profitability rather than continually burning through cash. For the first quarter, SoundHound reported a net loss of $25 million, according to generally accepted accounting principles.
In addition, with SoundHound AI in particular, there are concerns about shareholder dilution and a looming acquisition. It is trying to buy the conversational AI agent company LivePerson (LPSN 2.59%) for $43 million, and that deal -- an all-equity transaction, which is dilutive to shareholders -- is expected to close by the end of this year.
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What shows promise There are many risks involved in the acquisition. LivePerson is not a profitable company and has struggled heavily. Its stock price is down by more than 99% over the last five years. But if SoundHound can successfully integrate LivePerson's tech into its offerings, the deal could provide long-term value.
SoundHound AI expects its 2027 revenue to land between $350 million and $400 million, with $100 million of that coming from LivePerson. Given that SoundHound's revenue was just under $170 million in 2025, that would be a significant jump.
Why the rest of 2026 could still be bumpy SoundHound AI is likely to keep up its strong revenue growth, but dilution concerns and the pending LivePerson deal still hang heavily over the stock. If the stock price does rebound, it likely won't occur until after the LivePerson acquisition is finalized and investors have a few quarters to see whether it's actually benefiting the buyer.
SoundHound AI is a promising company that has landed many big-name clients, including Walmart, but for shareholders, the second half of the year could be just as rocky as the first.
Key Takeaways SOUN's auto and IoT AI business grew 88% organically in Q1, as total revenues rose 52% to $44.2M.SoundHound signed a seven-figure Japanese auto deal and expanded in South America with an OEM.SOUN is adding Voice AI to Walmart's ONN TV brand, broadening its connected-device footprint. SoundHound AI (SOUN - Free Report) reported strong first-quarter results in its automotive and IoT AI business, reflecting continued traction across automotive customers and connected-device integrations.
In the first quarter of 2026, SoundHound stated that its automotive and IoT AI business grew 88% year over year, excluding the impact of acquisitions. The figure is notable given the company’s active M&A backdrop, making organic growth an important indicator of core voice AI traction. Overall revenues increased 52% year over year to $44.2 million, with growth led by financial services and automotive.
Automotive growth was supported by new and expanded customer commitments. During the quarter, SoundHound signed a seven-figure commitment with a prominent Japanese auto manufacturer to deploy its voice assistant globally. The company also expanded into South America with a multinational OEM, indicating a broader geographic reach in the automotive market.
SoundHound’s IoT activity adds another device-based growth channel. The company signed an agreement to integrate its Voice AI into Walmart’s ONN TV brand and noted progress in voice commerce as multiple TV and well-known automotive brands integrate its solution. These agreements broaden the use cases for SOUN’s voice AI across connected-device platforms.
The monetization profile could also improve as automakers upgrade from pre-GenAI voice systems to GenAI and live GenAI capabilities. Higher-priced upgrades create an opportunity for SOUN to increase revenue per unit, while live GenAI adds a renewal component that could support a more recurring revenue profile over time.
SOUN’s organic growth is supported by expanding OEM relationships, higher-value GenAI upgrades, live GenAI renewal opportunities and a broader connected-device footprint. These drivers likely give the automotive and IoT business a stronger base to remain a meaningful contributor to organic growth in the upcoming periods.
SOUN’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesSoundHound’s shares have lost 42.5% in the past year compared with the industry’s fall of 34.8%. At the same time frame, other industry players, including C3.ai, Inc. (AI - Free Report) and BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI - Free Report) , have declined 64.6% and 54.6%, respectively.
SOUN Stock’s One-Year Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
SOUN stock is currently trading at a discount. It is currently trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 11.25, slightly below the industry average of 11.53. Then again, other industry players, such as C3.ai and BigBear.ai, have P/S ratios of 6.26 and 10.95, respectively.
SOUN’s P/S Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SoundHound’s 2026 loss per share has widened from 13 cents to 18 cents in the past 60 days.
EPS Trend of SOUN Stock
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company is likely to report dismal earnings, with projections indicating a 38.5% year over year fall in 2026. Conversely, industry players like BigBear.ai are likely to witness growth of 69.5% year over year in 2026 earnings. C3.ai is likely to project a rise of 39.3% in 2027 earnings.
SoundHound rozšiřuje podnikání v telekomunikacích a energetice: získal obnovení smluv na dodávky elektřiny, utility i broadband. Tržby v 1. čtvrtletí vzrostly o 52 % na rekordních 44,2 milionu USD.
Key Takeaways SoundHound is gaining telecom and energy traction beyond its automotive and restaurant businesses.SOUN secured electricity, utility and broadband renewals, supporting recurring enterprise revenues.The LivePerson deal would add messaging and boost SOUN's reach across global telecom providers. SoundHound AI (SOUN - Free Report) is broadening its enterprise AI footprint beyond its traditional automotive and restaurant businesses by gaining traction in the telecommunications and energy markets. These industries offer attractive long-term opportunities as enterprises increasingly adopt conversational and agentic AI to automate customer service, improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. The company's first-quarter 2026 results highlighted that this diversification strategy is gaining momentum, helping reduce reliance on any single end market while supporting sustained revenue growth.
During the quarter, SoundHound secured a multi-year renewal with a Texas-based retail electricity provider serving residential and commercial customers while also expanding services with a major Kansas electric utility. In telecommunications, the company renewed and expanded its relationship with a large broadband and digital services provider operating across 25 states. These contract wins demonstrate growing customer confidence in SoundHound's AI platform and provide a stable base of recurring enterprise revenues.
Management also expects the planned acquisition of LivePerson to significantly strengthen its presence in telecom. The combined company will serve customers in more than 30 countries, including more than 10 leading global telecommunications providers, while adding digital messaging capabilities to SoundHound's voice and agentic AI platform. This creates a unified omnichannel solution spanning voice, chat, web and messaging, opening meaningful cross-selling opportunities across telecom, financial services, healthcare and energy customers.
The strategy is already contributing to solid financial performance. First-quarter revenues increased 52% year over year to a record $44.2 million, while management reaffirmed its 2026 revenue guidance of $225-$260 million. With a growing enterprise pipeline, a debt-free balance sheet and expanding vertical diversification, SoundHound appears well-positioned to capitalize on rising enterprise demand for AI-powered customer engagement across telecom and energy markets.
How Competitors Are Expanding Enterprise AI Across Telecom & EnergyNICE Ltd. (NICE - Free Report) is one of SoundHound's strongest competitors in enterprise conversational AI, particularly in customer experience automation. NICE has built a significant presence among telecom operators and utility companies through its CXone platform, which combines AI-powered virtual agents, workforce optimization and analytics. NICE continues to deepen relationships with large enterprises seeking to automate customer support while improving service quality and reducing operating costs, making it a formidable player in these verticals.
Five9 (FIVN - Free Report) is another key rival benefiting from growing enterprise demand for AI-driven contact center solutions. Five9 provides intelligent virtual agents, cloud contact center software and workflow automation for telecommunications, energy and utility providers. Five9 has been expanding its generative AI capabilities through strategic partnerships and platform enhancements, enabling enterprises to deliver seamless omnichannel customer engagement. While SoundHound differentiates itself with proprietary voice AI and agentic capabilities, both NICE and Five9 possess established enterprise customer bases that intensify competition as AI adoption accelerates across telecom and energy markets.
SOUN’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesSoundHound shares have lost 35.1% year to date (YTD), underperforming the industry, as shown below:
SOUN’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, SOUN trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 11.05, below the industry’s average of 11.28.
SOUN’s P/S Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SoundHound’s 2026 loss per share has widened to 18 cents, as shown below. The expected loss also remains wider than the previous year’s loss of 13 cents.
SoundHound v 1. čtvrtletí zvýšil tržby o 52 % na 44,2 milionu USD, ale upravená EBITDA zůstala záporná ve výši 26,7 milionu USD. Firma sází na akvizici LivePerson, úspory nákladů a platformu OASYS.
Key Takeaways SOUN's EBITDA improvement depends on scale as Q1 revenues rose 52% despite negative EBITDA.The LivePerson deal could expand SoundHound's enterprise reach and lift the 2027 revenue opportunity.OASYS, cloud optimization and restructuring actions are expected to support future EBITDA expansion. SoundHound AI's (SOUN - Free Report) path to EBITDA improvement increasingly depends on one factor — scale. The company delivered first-quarter 2026 revenues of $44.2 million, up 52% year over year, while reaffirming full-year revenue guidance of $225-$260 million. Although adjusted EBITDA remained negative at $26.7 million, management believes growing revenue, cost synergies and a more efficient AI platform can narrow losses over time.
A major catalyst is SoundHound's planned acquisition of LivePerson. The transaction is expected to significantly expand the company's enterprise footprint, adding hundreds of long-standing customers and strengthening its presence across banking, telecommunications, healthcare and retail. Management projects a 2027 revenue opportunity of at least $350-$400 million after the deal closes, while cross-selling voice AI and digital messaging solutions could eventually support a $500 million revenue opportunity from the combined customer base.
Operational efficiency is another key driver. SoundHound is consolidating infrastructure, optimizing cloud spending, replacing third-party technologies with proprietary models and extracting cost synergies from prior acquisitions. Management noted that several restructuring actions taken in the first quarter should begin delivering recurring cost benefits over the next two quarters. The newly launched OASYS platform, powered primarily by SoundHound's in-house AI models, is also expected to reduce inference costs as customer traffic scales, supporting future EBITDA expansion.
The company still faces near-term profitability challenges. Investments in proprietary foundation models and continued integration expenses will likely keep margins under pressure in 2026. However, with $216 million in cash, no debt and multiple cost-saving initiatives underway, SoundHound appears well-positioned to leverage higher revenues into improved EBITDA over the longer term, provided execution on acquisitions and platform integration remains strong.
How Do Nuance and NICE Compare With SoundHound?Two companies worth watching alongside SoundHound are Microsoft's (MSFT - Free Report) Nuance Communications and NICE Ltd. (NICE - Free Report) .
Nuance Communications has built a dominant position in enterprise conversational AI, particularly in healthcare and customer engagement, benefiting from Microsoft's cloud ecosystem and broad enterprise reach. Nuance Communications focuses on large-scale deployments, but its deep integration within Microsoft makes rapid independent innovation less visible than SoundHound's dedicated AI platform.
Meanwhile, NICE continues to strengthen its AI-powered customer experience platform through automation and analytics, helping enterprises improve contact center efficiency and reduce operating costs. NICE is increasingly embedding generative AI into its CX solutions to enhance productivity and customer service. While Nuance Communications and NICE possess greater enterprise scale today, SoundHound aims to close the gap by expanding through acquisitions, cross-selling opportunities and its proprietary OASYS platform, which management believes can lower AI inference costs and support stronger EBITDA improvement as revenue scales.
SOUN’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesSoundHound shares have lost 35.4% year to date (YTD), outperforming the industry, as shown below:
SOUN’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, SOUN trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 11.03, below the industry’s average of 11.23.
SOUN’s P/S Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SoundHound’s 2026 loss per share has widened to 18 cents, as shown below. The expected loss also remains wider than the previous year’s loss of 13 cents.
EPS Trend of SOUN Stock
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
SOUN currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
