SoundHound AI (SOUN +5.07%) stock soared over the past week of trading. The company's share price rose 61.2% from the previous week's market close, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
NASDAQ: SOUN
Key Data Points
SoundHound AI stock made big gains this week after the company hosted an investor presentation and announced that a new restaurant partner had rolled out its software. The company's share price also gained ground thanks to macroeconomic and political developments and meme-stock momentum.
SoundHound AI surges on new restaurant win
SoundHound AI's chief financial officer, Nitesh Sharan, participated in the UBS Global Technology and AI conference on Dec. 4. During his presentation at the conference, Sharan demonstrated and discussed the company's conversational artificial intelligence (AI) software.
The following day, SoundHound announced that Torchy's Tacos had adopted the company's AI ordering and customer service technologies. The software was rolled out at 130 Torchy's Tacos locations and has the capacity to handle 100% of incoming calls and take customer orders. While bringing its software to 130 new restaurant locations probably isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, investors took it as an indication that the software could see much wider adoption -- and SoundHound stock rocketed higher on the news.
Meme-stock momentum, a Trump bump, and macroeconomic bullishness
While there was some significant business-related news that pushed SoundHound AI's valuation higher over the last week, the stock probably also benefited from meme-stock momentum. Investors have broadly become more risk-tolerant lately, and some are looking to score explosive wins on short-term trades. Correspondingly, meme-stock trades have come roaring back into fashion.
In addition to meme-stock momentum, SoundHound AI and other artificial intelligence stocks got a boost from Donald Trump's announcement that he plans to appoint venture capitalist David Sacks as AI and crypto czar under his new administration. The news seems to support the idea that the incoming Trump administration will take steps to promote the evolution of the artificial-intelligence industry.
Macroeconomic news was also favorable for growth stocks over the last week. November's jobs numbers showed improvement in the labor market, and the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates later this month.
On the heels of this past week's gains, SoundHound AI stock is up 608% across this year's trading. The gains mean the company is now valued at roughly 68 times this year's expected sales. So while it's possible that new contract wins and partnerships could propel more explosive gains for the company's share price, investors should understand the incredible run for the stock has pushed its risk profile significantly higher.
