DelphiAdvisorSoon
Packaged Software · #79 in the Retail 100

SoundHound AI

SOUN
Our rating
Not rated

Only two analysts publish 2026 revenue estimates and none publishes 2028, so the forecasts behind this model are too thin to rate on.

12-month target
—
Expected vs. S&P 500
—
Next earnings
Nov 5Today

SoundHound's 2027 revenue target is below what it and LivePerson expect to sell this year combined, so even hitting it could mean the merged business is shrinking.

Summary

SoundHound sells AI that answers customer calls, takes restaurant orders and runs in cars, and it has grown mostly by buying companies. In September it bought LivePerson, a chat-software firm whose sales are shrinking. Analysts' $390M revenue forecast for 2027 looks like 33% growth, but it sits below the two companies' combined 2026 forecasts, so it assumes the merged business shrinks. The stock, down more than half this year, depends on stopping that decline before cash runs short.

$4.12
-$12.99 (-75.92%)Past year
What SoundHound AI does

SoundHound sells voice and chat AI that answers customer calls, takes restaurant orders and runs inside cars. After buying its way into call-center software, most of its sales now come from corporate customer service.1,2,6

What it sells

  • LivePerson chat software

    Messaging tools big brands use to chat with customers. Bought in September 2026; it booked $52.5M of revenue in Q2, before the deal.

  • AI agents for companies76% of revenue, Q2 2026 (before LivePerson)

    Subscriptions for AI that handles phone calls, chats and orders for banks, insurers, hospitals and restaurants. This is where SoundHound's growth comes from.

  • Car and device voice24% of revenue, Q2 2026 (before LivePerson)

    Royalties paid by carmakers and TV makers for each product that ships with SoundHound's voice assistant built in.

Who buys it

Banks, insurers, hospitals, telecoms, restaurant chains and carmakers such as Stellantis and Hyundai. Two customers made up a quarter of Q2 revenue, so results swing with big contracts. The U.S. was 59% of revenue, China 14%.

Where you've seen it

The AI that takes orders for some Five Guys, IHOP and Jersey Mike's restaurants, or the SoundHound song-recognition app.

How the business makes money

The backstory

SoundHound began as a song-recognition app and built voice AI that carmakers and device makers pay royalties to use. To reach big corporate customers faster, management bought its way into customer-service software: Amelia, Interactions in 2025 and LivePerson in September 2026. Each deal added revenue and big corporate customers, but also losses. The plan now is to sell SoundHound's AI agents to those customers and cut the combined costs.

SoundHound earns subscriptions when its AI handles calls, chats and orders, and royalties when its voice assistant ships in a car or TV. Profit depends on selling more AI to the customers it bought.1,2,3,5,7,9,17

  1. 1 · EntryBuy customersAcquisitions bring big customers cheaply. LivePerson cost $43M in stock plus retiring its debt, and brought hundreds of clients, many signed for over a decade.
  2. 2 · UpsellCross-sell agentsSoundHound then sells those customers its OASYS AI agents, which handle voice and chat requests without a human.
  3. 3 · DemandUsageCustomers pay by subscription or by interaction, so revenue rises as more calls, chats and orders move to AI.
  4. 4 · MarginGross marginRunning more work on its own software lifts gross margin, the share of sales left after hosting and service costs.
  5. 5 · Cost cutCombined costsMerging two companies' staff and systems lowers operating costs, shrinking the loss on each dollar of sales.
  6. 6 · PayoffSelf-fundingOnce cash flow turns positive, SoundHound stops selling shares, and revenue growth finally shows up per share.

Advantages

A ready-made base of big customers

Major advantage

Matters most for the next two years. With LivePerson, SoundHound says it now counts 12 of the 15 largest global banks and 4 of the 5 largest airlines as customers. Selling AI agents to companies already under contract is cheaper and faster than winning new ones.5,7,17

Voice AI it built itself

Strong advantage

A real edge in cars and restaurants, less so in call centers. SoundHound owns its speech and language technology, backed by over 750 patents, so it does not pay another AI company for every conversation. Stellantis, Hyundai and Kia ship it in their cars.1,5,10

Voice ordering for restaurants

Supporting

Helpful but small. Chains such as Five Guys, IHOP and Jersey Mike's use SoundHound to take orders, and one pizza brand runs it in over 75% of its locations. These deals are numerous but individually modest.1

What's changing

From buying growth to proving it

The LivePerson deal closed on September 4, and LivePerson's finance chief, John Collins, became SoundHound's CFO. Management will reset its 2026 forecast to include LivePerson at the next report. The stock is down more than half this year as investors pay far less for each dollar of sales amid continued losses, cash burn and new deal shares.1,4,5,9,10

Competitors

Who else an investor would consider, and how they compare.

CompanyMarket valueWhat it doesCompared with SoundHound AI
SoundHound AIthis stock
$1.85B
SoundHound sells voice and chat AI that answers customer calls, takes restaurant orders and runs inside cars. After buying its way into call-center software, most of its sales now come from corporate customer service.
CerenceCRNC—Voice assistants built into cars, sold to carmakers worldwide.Cerence earns cash from car voice; SoundHound still burns cash.12
Sierra (private)private—AI customer-service agents for large companies, built from scratch on new AI models.Sierra wins new customers with AI agents; SoundHound bought customers and must convert them.13
Five9FIVN—Cloud call-center software that runs companies' human and AI agents.Five9 owns the call-center plumbing; SoundHound sells the AI riding on it.
Google CloudGOOGL
$3.88T
Gemini-based customer-service agents sold alongside Google's cloud computing.Google can bundle AI agents with its cloud; SoundHound must win as a specialist.