SOUN Stock Rebounds After LivePerson Deal: Retail Bulls Bank On AI Opportunity With Expanded Fortune 100 Client Base

• As part of the deal, all of LivePerson’s debt will be wiped out using SoundHound stock and the company's excess cash.
• Retail traders argue that the deal creates a dominant AI platform by combining SoundHound’s proprietary voice technology with LivePerson’s massive digital messaging footprint.
• Stockwits sentiment for SOUN holds up in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone.

SoundHound AI, Inc.’s shares gained over 3% in early premarket on Wednesday, rebounding from a sharp slide the previous day triggered by the announcement of the company’s acquisition of commerce AI firm LivePerson.

SoundHound said it is acquiring LivePerson in an all-stock deal based on SoundHound’s 10-day average price, capped at $12 and floored at $7, alongside a companion restructuring of approximately $261.2 million of LivePerson’s secured notes. 

As part of the deal, all of LivePerson’s debt will be wiped out using SoundHound stock and the company's excess cash. LivePerson shareholders will receive about $42 million of SoundHound shares.

Shares of SoundHound and LivePerson declined by over 5% on Tuesday.

SoundHound faced selling pressure as many saw the deal as dilutive to the stock value and risk-heavy. The all-stock structure, tied to a $7-$12 VWAP collar, means issuing a large number of new shares, raising dilution concerns and uncertainty if the stock weakens. 

At the same time, the $261 million debt restructuring signals that SoundHound is effectively absorbing LivePerson’s stressed balance sheet, adding turnaround risk rather than acquiring a clean, high-growth asset.

Retail Sees Massive Upside From SOUN-LPSN Deal

Retail traders appeared to back the deal nonetheless, arguing that it creates a dominant omnichannel AI platform by combining SoundHound’s proprietary voice technology with LivePerson’s massive digital messaging footprint.

LivePerson sells an enterprise conversational AI platform that offers messaging, chatbots, and voice tools for customer service and sales. It serves large global brands, handling nearly a billion conversations monthly, and its customer base is concentrated among major enterprises.

“LivePerson brings an incredible roster of long-tenured customers, including 12 of the top 15 global banks, 4 of the top 5 global airlines, and over 10 leading telecommunications providers,” a Stocktwits user posted. 

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for SOUN remained ‘extremely bullish,’ unchanged since last week. “$SOUN Even without this acquisition, the hound is moving rapidly towards being EBITDA positive,” another user posted. 

“This investment will put them into TURBO MODE higher profitability and faster. The data mining is a treasure trove for AI training alone. The access to 25% of Fortune 100 companies who are already paying attractive fees and long tenured contracts opens up cross selling voice over text-only and that's worked out well with the Amelia acquisition. It looks like a shrewd purchase.”

SoundHound has yet to set a date for its first-quarter results. Year to date, SOUN stock has declined 21% as of its last close.

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