Markets
SoundHoundAI trading volume
Sherwood

SoundHound trading explodes as retail favorite rises

It was the second-most-active stock on Thursday.

Matt Phillips

Activity in SoundHound AI, a small-cap voice AI company that’s become of a favorite for some retail traders this year, is flaring up again, as it rose to become the second-most-traded asset in the markets Thursday, behind market-cap behemoth Nvidia. (Though, given the size of Nvidia, the value of its trading dwarfed SoundHound.)

It’s hard to say exactly what lit a fire under SoundHound traders. The company did announce another deal to provide voice-interaction AI software to regional restaurant chain Torchy’s Tacos and its 130 locations, but that hardly seems enough to justify a surge in market value of more than $1 billion on Thursday alone.

After all, the company continues to lose money, as we saw in its most recent earnings results. Its sales are growing, but the stock is trading at more than 70x sales over the last year, which is a remarkably high level. That either means the market is predicting explosive sales growth over the coming years, or traders are just way too excited about the stock. Time will tell.

But as we’ve said, there’s a lot of excitement-slash-euphoria at play in the markets broadly at the moment, with bullish sentiment clearly running rampant.

Sherwood reached out to SoundHound AI to see if they had anything to add regarding the upsurge. They sent over a prepared statement from Chief Executive Keyvan Mohajer:

“This year has been pivotal for SoundHound AI, with a number of incredible new partners and customers added to our expanding roster. Conversational and agentic AI are emerging as a massive opportunity from the generative AI disruption, and we are excited to be entering 2025 with strength and momentum.”

The stock is up again on Friday, pushing its market value above $5 billion for the first time. The shares are up more than 50% this week.

Oh, and if you’re interested in a deeper discussion of the company, check out our Q&A with SoundHound’s CEO.

More Markets

See all Markets
Tasha Matsumoto
2h
S&P 500 posts weekly gain for its 8th consecutive week

The benchmark index is on its longest weekly winning streak since 2023.

A handsome, brown Pineywoods bull with a black head and large horns stands near a forest
markets
Paige Oamek

Hardware stocks jump thanks to server demand and record Lenovo revenue

Server stocks are rallying as Dell, Super Micro Computer, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ride the momentum of Hong Kong-based Lenovo. The PC maker’s stock rose 19% on Friday, hitting an all-time high, on record Q4 earnings.

Powering the positive earnings report was the company’s AI-related revenue, which grew 84% in the fourth quarter and now makes up over a third of total revenue. Investors seem to think the increased demand for servers could have trickle-down effects for other companies.

“The company’s results and commentary reinforced the outlook for strong AI-infrastructure demand while indicating resilient broader traditional server and storage spending,” wrote Woo Jin Ho, a senior technology analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Lenovo’s $21 billion AI-server pipeline and remarks that demand is outpacing supply support Dell’s AI-demand momentum and point to robust orders.”

AI’s insatiable computing demand is reshaping the hardware industry and driving up server demand.

Dell will report first-quarter earnings on Thursday, May 28.

Policeman with Piercing Eyes

Take-Two’s “GTA 6” forecast feels absurdly conservative

Take-Two issued a 2027 net bookings forecast about $1 billion below Wall Street’s estimates. The stock is falling on Friday.

Max Knoblauch6h
The D-Wave 2X quantum system, is operated at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., as seen on Tuesday December 8, 2015.

Quantum computing CEOs hope “validating” government backing proves their technology is no longer speculative

The government funding is a push to boost the foundational elements of quantum computing to get the industry ready for prime time. The CEOs of Infleqtion and D-Wave give us their thoughts.

Luke Kawa8h
markets
Helena Cheng

Ross Stores surges as Q1 results beat expectations, full-year guidance raised

Ross shares are rising after the company delivered strong Q1 results, with sales topping Wall Street’s projections.

The stock soared 6.3% just after the open.

Key numbers:

  • Earnings per share of $2.02 vs. $1.47 year over year (estimate: $1.72).

  • Sales of $6.01 billion, up 21% year over year (estimate: $5.61 billion).

  • Comparable sales growth of 17% (estimate: 8.58%).

CEO Jim Conroy attributed the results to better traffic in stores. “Customer traffic was the primary driver of the strong sales trend as compelling merchandise assortments, higher customer acquisition and engagement from our ongoing marketing initiatives, and an improved in‑store experience are resonating with shoppers.”

The company also noted that transaction volume grew across all key demographics, including “income levels, ethnicities, and age groups, including younger customers.” Sales were also likely buoyed by standard seasonal tailwinds, including consumer spending from tax refunds.

Backed by the strong quarter, the company lifted its full-year targets. Ross now projects same-store sales growth of 6% to 7%, up from the prior forecast of 3% to 4%, topping Wall Street’s estimate of 4.64%. It boosted its annual EPS guidance to a range of $7.50 to $7.74, versus the prior outlook of $7.02 to $7.36.

Ross Stores has been one of the retail sector’s standout performers this year, rising around 20% year to date as of Thursday’s close.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC