Why I'm Rethinking My Bearish Outlook on SoundHound AI: The Stock Could Be a Long-Term Winner

I've been pretty skeptical of SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN). Compared with heavy hitters in artificial intelligence (AI) such as Anthropic and OpenAI, the AI-powered voice chatbot company has a small niche and a tiny cash balance. And yet it somehow still has a $3 billion market cap, although that's fallen more than 60% from its 2025 high.

Over the last few quarters, though, I've started to rethink my bearish position on SoundHound. The company has been executing well, and against all odds, it seems to be making headway. Here's why I think SoundHound might be worth a second look for AI investors.

The bear case

SoundHound is essentially combining an old technology (voice recognition) with a very new one (AI).

Image source: Getty Images.

Phone voice recognition systems predate Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa, which debuted in 2010 and 2014, respectively. SoundHound's major innovation was developing voice recognition technology that performs better in environments with heavy background noise, making it a favorite of drive-thrus and in-car audio systems.

The company opened a new market by expanding its agentic AI restaurant ordering systems from drive-thru windows to phone systems, which are used today by major chains like White Castle, Chipotle, Five Guys, Panda Express, and Applebee's. It also provides in-car voice systems for Kia, Hyundai, Lucid, and all of Stellantis' brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. And in Q1, it signed a global agreement with "a prominent Japanese manufacturer" for its vehicle voice assistant.

But although SoundHound has a solid, growing presence in these niches, they're comparatively easy niches for an AI chatbot to fill. To really unlock major growth, SoundHound needs to expand into general customer service applications, where there are many more potential customers, but also more potential for error. Plus, on a customer service phone line, SoundHound's background noise-reducing technology isn't as important, putting it at greater risk from competitors.

The bull case

SoundHound's apparent lack of a proprietary moat worried me at first. But just because a technology is widely used doesn't mean a deep-pocketed competitor will necessarily deploy it in this industry to clear the field.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's no surprise that SoundHound has plenty of competition in this space. An effective agentic AI customer service voice agent platform would have several advantages over human agents beyond cost-effectiveness, including the ability to answer all calls quickly regardless of call volume, 24/7 global availability, multilingual support, and near-instant data retrieval. But it's a very fragmented market with lots of small start-ups operating alongside major players, including Amazon Quick for AWS and Salesforce's Agentforce.

In Q1, SoundHound grew its revenue by 52% year over year to $44.2 million and signed new or expanded deals with at least two dozen customers. It's also been very acquisitive and just agreed to purchase enterprise conversational AI provider LivePerson in April.

If SoundHound can continue to grow its revenue and consolidate market share through new contracts and acquisitions at this pace, it could very easily become a long-term winner. Smart investors should keep an eye on SoundHound.

John Bromels has positions in Amazon, Apple, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Salesforce, and SoundHound AI. The Motley Fool recommends Stellantis and recommends the following options: short June 2026 $36 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.