Could Sales Support Accelerate the Expansion of SoundHound's AI in Retail?

SoundHound AI Unveils Sales Assist at Mobile World Congress 2026

SoundHound AI, Inc. has made a notable entrance into the retail sector by introducing Sales Assist, a voice-activated AI agent, during the Mobile World Congress 2026. Following this announcement, SOUN shares surged 6.8% during regular trading and gained an additional 0.8% after hours, signaling strong investor confidence. This launch signifies a strategic move to expand SoundHound’s agentic AI platform into retail sales environments, with a particular focus on telecom and complex retail stores.

Sales Assist is engineered to deliver immediate, context-sensitive suggestions to retail staff by analyzing live customer interactions, provided consent is given. Utilizing the company’s proprietary Polaris speech recognition system, the tool performs reliably even in bustling store environments. It supplies staff with real-time prompts for tasks such as checking upgrade eligibility, offering product bundles, processing trade-ins, and ensuring compliance—all directly on their devices. By streamlining CRM processes and expediting decision-making, Sales Assist aims to enhance revenue per customer, reduce sales cycles, and increase employee efficiency.

This new solution further strengthens SoundHound’s position in the fast-growing enterprise AI market, especially within telecom retail, where product complexity and upselling are prevalent. The initiative highlights SoundHound’s ongoing shift toward broader enterprise AI applications, moving beyond its established presence in automotive and voice assistant technologies. In 2025, SoundHound managed nearly 30 million AI-powered customer interactions, demonstrating the rising adoption of its conversational and agentic AI solutions across various industries.

Although questions remain regarding monetization timelines and competitive dynamics, this development underscores SoundHound’s commitment to innovation and diversification—key factors that could drive sustained growth if well executed.

Competitive Landscape: SoundHound’s Position in Agentic AI

SoundHound distinguishes itself as a leader in voice-centric agentic AI, specializing in real-time speech comprehension and task automation for sectors such as retail, automotive, hospitality, and telecom. The company faces competition from prominent players including C3.ai, Inc., BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc., and Palantir Technologies, Inc.

• C3.ai provides a comprehensive enterprise AI platform with agentic features tailored for large-scale industrial, energy, and regulated sectors, excelling in data integration and customizable AI solutions.
• BigBear.ai focuses on secure AI and defense applications for government clients, offering agentic systems designed for mission-critical operations and stable, recurring contracts, though its growth outside federal markets is more gradual.
• Palantir merges advanced data analytics with agentic AI workflows, serving both government and commercial clients, and is recognized for its deep market penetration and high-value contracts.

SOUN Stock: Recent Performance and Valuation

Over the past six months, shares of SoundHound have declined by 30.4%, lagging behind the Zacks Computers - IT Services industry, the broader Computer and Technology sector, and the S&P 500 index.

Source: Zacks Investment Research

Currently, SOUN trades at a premium compared to its industry peers, with a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 14.65, as illustrated in the following chart.

Source: Zacks Investment Research

SoundHound’s EPS Outlook

Analyst estimates for SOUN’s 2025 earnings have remained steady over the past two months, projecting a loss of $0.13 per share. Meanwhile, the 2026 forecast has improved, with the expected loss narrowing to $0.06 per share.

Source: Zacks Investment Research

Despite the projected losses for 2025 and 2026, these estimates represent significant year-over-year improvements of 87.5% and 56.9%, respectively. Currently, SoundHound holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). For a full list of Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks, you can view the latest recommendations here.

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