SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded SoundHound AI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of SoundHound AI from $18.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of SoundHound AI from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of SoundHound AI in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $14.00 target price on shares of SoundHound AI in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.07.

SoundHound AI Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:SOUN opened at $7.82 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.58 and a 200 day moving average of $13.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.35 and a beta of 2.64. SoundHound AI has a 52 week low of $6.52 and a 52 week high of $22.17.

Insider Activity at SoundHound AI

In other news, COO Michael Zagorsek sold 73,406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.28, for a total value of $828,019.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,787,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,162,537.52. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Nitesh Sharan sold 60,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.28, for a total value of $685,598.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,705,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,234,069.44. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 462,265 shares of company stock worth $5,216,518 in the last quarter. 9.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SoundHound AI

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in SoundHound AI by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in shares of SoundHound AI by 62.4% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SoundHound AI by 5.3% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in SoundHound AI by 2.7% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 31,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in SoundHound AI by 7.4% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 19.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More SoundHound AI News

Here are the key news stories impacting SoundHound AI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Zacks upgraded SOUN from “strong sell” to “hold,” a mild vote of confidence that can reduce selling pressure from more negative brokerage views. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting a restaurant-voice rollout and the Bridgepointe deal has renewed the bull case by pointing to tangible commercial deployments that could drive revenue growth if adoption scales. Does Restaurant Voice Rollout and Bridgepointe Deal Change The Bull Case For SoundHound AI (SOUN)?
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum headlines (e.g., “shares are soaring”) reflect renewed investor interest and trading volume spikes that can support shorter-term rallies if follow-through continues. ZoomInfo, DigitalOcean, Fastly, Samsara, and SoundHound AI Shares Are Soaring
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell‑side firms still carry buy/overweight ratings and analyst price targets sit above the current price (median target ~$16), which can cap downside and attract value-seeking funds. Quiver Quant — Analyst Ratings & Targets (excerpt)
• Neutral Sentiment: SoundHound has scheduled Q4 and full‑year 2025 results for Feb. 26 after market close; the report and management commentary are likely to be the next major stock catalysts. GlobeNewswire — Earnings Date
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short‑term price moves have been volatile (coverage noting intraday gains), so traders may be reacting to momentum headlines rather than fundamentals. Zacks — Short-term price note
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha published a bearish valuation piece arguing SOUN remains overvalued, unprofitable, and reliant on M&A assumptions — coverage that can deter long‑term investors and weigh on the stock. Seeking Alpha — Valuation Critique
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver/other data show extensive insider selling over recent months (multiple executives sold large blocks), which investors often view as a negative signal about near‑term insider confidence. Quiver — Insider Selling & Institutional Moves

SoundHound AI Company Profile

SoundHound AI, Inc is a voice AI and conversational intelligence company specializing in speech recognition, natural language understanding and sound identification technologies. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company initially gained recognition with its music discovery app before pivoting to enterprise-grade voice AI solutions. Over the years, SoundHound AI has built a comprehensive platform that enables developers and businesses to embed conversational intelligence into a wide range of products and services.

The company’s core offering is the Houndify voice AI platform, which provides customizable speech-to-meaning technology, domain-specific natural language understanding and text-to-speech capabilities.