Shares of Soundhound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) saw a significant rise of 17% by 2 p.m. ET, climbing to levels not seen since late January. Investors appear to be anticipating the company’s earnings report set for next Thursday, while interest in voice-based AI is growing, as evident with Twilio (NYSE:TWLO).
Rise of voice AI
Recently, SoundHound AI made headlines by securing $43 million and deploying voice AI ordering tools across 90% of Casey’s General Store (NASDAQ: CASY), although there hasn’t been much news today. The Q1 2026 earnings report is on the horizon, yet typically, stock price movements like this are unusual so far in advance.
The surge in SoundHound AI’s stock could be linked to the positive earnings report from Twilio last night, which greatly exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Twilio’s stock jumped 22% as its voice revenue grew by 20% year-over-year over the last several quarters.
CEO Khozema Shipchandler mentioned expectations for evolving use cases in voice AI, suggesting a shift towards more conversational and cross-channel applications.
It’s worth noting that while SoundHound AI’s voice technology isn’t a direct competitor to Twilio’s services, there are overlap areas. Both companies promote their conversational AI tools boldly, and the demand for Twilio’s voice solutions hints at a robust market for voice AI applications like those provided by SoundHound AI.
This connection could be a reason for SoundHound AI’s uptick today.
The eloquent case for SoundHound AI
At first glance, many investors might overlook SoundHound AI due to its unprofitability and its higher stock trading at 23 times revenue, compared to Twilio’s 5.2 times. However, the company has a significant number of long-term contracts contributing to revenue, with sales expected to double in FY2025.
So it makes sense that there’s excitement among SoundHound AI investors surrounding success stories in voice AI. Next week’s earnings report could provide insights into new contracts and revenue growth, potentially marking progress towards long-term profitability.
