SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) Shares Down 1.2% on Insider Selling

SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN)’s share price fell 1.2% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $5.83 and last traded at $5.93. Approximately 19,670,375 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 28,252,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.00.

Specifically, CEO Keyvan Mohajer sold 137,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total value 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 represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Majid Emami sold 38,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total value of $245,160.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 834,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,280,821.49. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In related news, insider James Hom sold 38,730 shares of SoundHound AI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total value of $245,160.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,105,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,163.15. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SOUN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of SoundHound AI in a report on Friday, September 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SoundHound AI from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of SoundHound AI from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of SoundHound AI from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SoundHound AI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.00.

Key Stories Impacting SoundHound AI

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts cited by American Banking News maintain an average $13.00 price target, well above recent trading levels. The target implies significant potential upside if SoundHound executes on its growth strategy. SoundHound AI Receives $13.00 Average Price Target from Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: SoundHound’s completed acquisition of LivePerson and appointment of former LivePerson executive John Collins as CFO could strengthen financial integration and support management’s push toward sustainable profitability. The developments follow strong second-quarter growth and raised full-year guidance. Will SoundHound AI’s LivePerson Deal and New CFO Shift Its Profitability Narrative?
• Neutral Sentiment: A Zacks comparison with NVIDIA emphasizes SoundHound’s rapid revenue growth and narrowing losses, but also its smaller scale, narrower voice-AI focus and continued lack of profitability. Investors may view SOUN as a higher-risk, higher-growth AI investment. SoundHound vs. NVIDIA After Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Keyvan Mohajer, COO Michael Zagorsek, SVP Majid Emami and insider James Hom sold a combined approximately 285,863 shares at an average price of $6.33. The filings say the transactions covered tax withholding obligations from vested equity awards, reducing their bearish significance, but the sales may still weigh on sentiment. SoundHound AI Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: SoundHound remains unprofitable, with analysts expecting a full-year loss, while its shares trade below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. That technical weakness and ongoing concerns about valuation and the path to profitability are limiting enthusiasm despite strong revenue growth.

SoundHound AI Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of -15.60 and a beta of 2.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $6.69 and a 200 day moving average of $7.22.

SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.38 million. SoundHound AI had a negative net margin of 67.45% and a negative return on equity of 30.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that SoundHound AI, Inc. will post -0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of SoundHound AI

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SoundHound AI by 38.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 132,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 36,415 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in SoundHound AI by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 32,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in SoundHound AI by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 22,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in SoundHound AI by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 64,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 4,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in SoundHound AI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $165,000. 19.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SoundHound AI

SoundHound AI, Inc develops conversational artificial intelligence and voice-enabled technologies. Its platform is designed to let users interact with devices, applications and services through natural-language speech, supporting functions such as information retrieval, question answering and task completion.

The company’s offerings include the Houndify conversational AI platform, which businesses can use to build branded voice assistants, as well as SoundHound Chat AI, an in-car and consumer-oriented voice assistant that combines conversational capabilities with access to information and services.