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SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat

Written by Thomas Hughes

SoundHound AI’s (NASDAQ: SOUN)market sent a clear signal following its Q2 earnings report, surging more than 30% on the news and closing the week at its highs. The move reveals solid support at long-term lows, a critical support target given the ultra-high short interest, and a high probability that this market will complete a reversal.

While short-sellers had ample reasonto sell into this market, they’ve overdone it, pushing short interest to over 40%, and now short-covering is in play, driven by a strengthening fundamental story. Technically, SOUN is showing a Double Bottom reversal pattern and has only a single hurdle remaining, as of early- to mid-August – the pattern’s baseline, a resistance point that may be easily broken.

Analysts Praise SoundHound Results: Some Caution Remains

Although analysts had mixed responses, with some citing valuation concerns, execution risks, and cash burn, the outlook remains optimistic. Cautious responses were offset by positives, including robust affirmations from Cantor Fitzgerald and Oppenheimer. They view SoundHound as a best-in-class voice AI play with deal activity driving solid results and momentum across segments. They focus on the fast top-line growth, underpinned by large enterprises, and the upcoming LivePerson acquisitionas near-term catalysts, and are confident the company can reach its goals.

The takeaway for investors is that nine analysts provide a modest conviction in the Moderate Buy rating, there is a 55.5% Buy-side bias within the data, and about 85% of upside at the consensus target, which is well above the critical resistance point.

With support strengthening, as indicated by technical signals, and catalysts such as improving business momentum and acquisitions in play, the likely outcome is that SoundHound’s price action completes its reversal by year’s end. The high short interest and analysts’ caution point to some near-term turbulence as the market completes its reversal, but larger stock price advances are likely by year’s end and in early 2027 as results reveal strategic traction.

Technical signals suggesting market traction include the price action, trading volume, the MACD histogram, and the stochastic oscillator. Price action reveals buying, volume suggests the move is solid, and MACD reveals the bulls are regaining control. In this scenario, stochastic shows the market is incredibly oversold, ready to advance, and has ample room to run. The combined result is a firm support target at $5.90, which limits risk in Q3, support echoed by institutional activity, coupled with a robust upside.

SoundHound Raises Guidance as OASYS Gains Traction

SoundHound’s stock price outlook centers in large part on the OASYS platform. It is a cloud-native, user-friendly platform for agentic AI development. The basic platform ingests company-specific materials and creates agentic processes to handle operations, including customer-facing ones. Among the benefits are ease of use; agents can be up and running in minutes, and self-learning capability. OASYS agents evaluate their own performance, offering patches and fixes for developers to approve. What it means for the business is a higher-margin revenue stream with potential to accelerate growth.

SoundHound’s Q2 results reveal end-market users find utility with the product. The company’s revenue grew by 45%, outpacing the consensus estimate by more than 1800 basis points. Strength was seen across industries and verticals, aided by new clients, new verticals, renewals, and production penetration.

Margin is another highlight, with operating and business losses narrowing sharply. The adjusted two-cent loss is three cents better than expected, playing into management’s decision to raise guidance. Guidance is the operative factor, with full-year revenue expected at $230 million at the low end of the range, compared to the $232 consensus, and margin improvement on the table. As it stands, SoundHound may not need to raise additional capital, but it is dependent on margin improvement and the successful integration of LivePerson.

SoundHound: Execution Is Critical in the Back Half of 2026

SoundHound’s catalysts are its expanding OASYS business and the LivePerson integration. While OASYS underpins organic growth and margin improvement, LivePerson will instantly increase the user base and cross-selling opportunities while expanding the addressable market. The company expects rapid uptake, as LivePerson’s clientele has been exiting in favor of services like SoundHound’s. Management didn’t provide any specifics, but the deal is expected to close by year’s end, potentially doubling SoundHound’s 2027 revenue outlook when it does.

SoundHound’s biggest risks are competition and execution. All major hyperscalers actively work and deploy agentic voice AI and could render SoundHound’s product moot. The difference is that SoundHound provides superior functionality, having focused on voice-to-meaning from the beginning rather than using voice-to-text as its starting point. Execution is the bigger risk, with cash burn already an issue. Missteps and delays, unexpected costs, and capital need will all be reflected in the stock price and may keep short-sellers in the market until more concrete evidence of business momentum and profitability exists. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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3 Dividend Champion Utilities for a Market That Can’t Sit Still

Written by Dan Schmidt

The S&P 500 finally made a new all-time high on Aug. 4, its first new record in more than two months. But while the index was notching its high, the volatility index (VIX) also spiked 4%, indicating a flurry of options activity under the market’s surface.

Inflation is still elevated, the war in Iran is grinding on, and tech valuations are in nosebleed territory, so what’s a risk-averse investor to do? Turn to the utility sector, with its low-beta, dividend-paying stocks. In this exercise, we’re looking for the cream of the crop, so each company must pass a three-part screen:

• Minimum 2% yield
• Maximum 60% dividend payout ratio (below industry average)
• Minimum 25 years of consecutive annual payout raises

This screen provides us with dividends that have typically outpaced inflation, have headroom for future increases, and have grown during calamities such as the 2001 Dot-Com meltdown and the 2008 Financial Crisis. Here are the three utility stocks that passed the test.

Consolidated Edison: The Anchor of a Dividend Portfolio

One of the main suppliers of energy to New York City, Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED), is the largest utility on our list with a market cap just under $40 billion and about $17 billion in annual sales. Being a New York utility company means sacrificing some growth, and ED shares are often considered a “bond-like” instrument—for good reason.

The stock has an incredibly low beta of 0.27, meaning a 10% drop in the S&P 500 correlates to only a 2.7% drop in ED shares. Likewise, you won’t capture much market upside as an ED investor, but you will get the steadiest dividend in the industry.

Consolidated Edison declared its 52nd consecutive dividend payout increase in January, raising the quarterly payout 4.4% to 89 cents ($0.8875 to be precise). No utility in the S&P 500 can match that track record, and the payout has survived a generation of financial and economic catastrophes. The DPR sits just below our cutoff at 59.76%, but it is projected to decline to 55.21% in 2027, driven by expected earnings growth of 5.58%. This is a good sign for a utility; a rising payout with a declining DPR shows the streak isn’t being defended at the expense of the balance sheet.

However, the sacrifice for stability is growth. The dividend currently yields a healthy 3.27% but has grown only 2.13% annually on average over the last five years. New York utility rates are highly predictable, and that predictability comes at the cost of revenue expansion (and stock gains). An investment in ED will earn steady income ahead of inflation, but shares have only gained 3% in the last 12 months, so there’s not much capital appreciation to rely on.

New Jersey Resources: Lofty Yield Protected by Manageable Payout Ratio

If you want capital appreciation and income, New Jersey Resources Corp. (NYSE: NJR) offers a bit more upside—and a bit more earnings volatility—than a plain-vanilla utility.

The stock has gained about 20% year-to-date (YTD) but carries a 0.50 beta, meaning its 50% less volatile than the S&P 500 as a whole.

So far, the gain has been supported by earnings. NJR reported its Q3 2026 results on Aug. 3 and beat top and bottom-line estimates with 16.8% year-over-year (YOY) revenue growth.

Full-year earnings-per-share (EPS) guidance was narrowed but raised at the midpoint due to the outsized impact from the Energy Services division, which trades gas wholesale and accounts for 21-23% of earnings.

Wholesale gas trading is a noisier business than rate-controlled energy provision, which means NJR’s earnings are subject to greater quarter-to-quarter volatility than those of a typical utility, especially in the current geopolitical environment.

The good news is that the dividend remains safe and generous. The yield is currently 3.45% with a DPR of 52.49%. The growth record is strong as well: 7.4% annualized over the last five years, with a 29-year streak of dividend payout increases. The NJR payout bumps typically come in September when the fiscal year ends, so the next increase should be announced in a few weeks.

MGE Energy: High Volatility and Headroom

Moving out of the energy-hungry Northeast leads us to MGE Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: MGEE), a Madison-based utility serving central and southern Wisconsin. Despite only a 3% YTD gain, MGEE has the highest beta on our list at 0.71, meaning it’s only 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. It also has the lowest yield at 2.33%, but that yield has been accelerating rapidly over the last two years, and the payout rate shows there’s plenty of headroom for more.

The company boasts a DPR of 46.68%, the lowest on our screen and well below the industry average. 

Dividend growth has been steady at 4.99% annualized over the last five years, and another payout boost this year will bring the company’s streak to 50 consecutive years.

That payout increase should be coming later this month, and recent earnings hint at a substantial move.

MGE Energy reported Q3 2026 resultson Aug. 5 and smashed EPS expectations despite a slight miss on revenue.

Earnings are expected to grow 8% over the next 12 months, so the company could boost its dividend payout by a high-single-digit percentage while keeping the DPR under 55%.
 READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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These 3 Most-Upgraded Stocks Have Almost Nothing to Do With AI

Written by Leo Miller

In today’s stock market environment, investors’ minds often go to one specific theme when thinking about the “most upgraded” stocks among analysts: data centers and AI. This certainly makes sense, given the overwhelming presence of this theme that seems to leave little air left in the room for other industries.

However, in July, three stocks that investors may not expect were among MarketBeat’s most upgraded names, having no or limited direct exposure to the AI theme.

PayPal: Acquisition Offer Sends Shares Soaring

First up is a name that has experienced significant ups and downs in 2026, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). Earlier in 2026, PayPal shares were down as much as 35%. The stock’s rough start was largely due to its February earnings report, where the firm guided for slightly negative to slightly positive earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2026. Meanwhile, the market expected substantially positive EPS growth. 

This, along with PayPal announcing a new CEO, tanked shares over 20% in one day. PayPal shares remained down in the dumps until July, when the stock rocketed up over 32% in one month.

This came as a group of investors wants to pay up for the payments giant. Payments company Stripe, along with private equity firm Advent International, offered to acquire PayPal for approximately $53 billion, or $60.50 per share. 

With that price well above PayPal’s share price at the time, the stock soared on this news. The development not only means PayPal investors could eventually get bought out, but also provides evidence of undervaluation. Overall, MarketBeat tracked more than 10 price target increases in July following this news, along with multiple rating increases.

PayPal says the current offer for the company is too low, creating the potential that Stripe and Advent could come back with a stronger proposition.

Texas Instruments Posts Strong Industrials Growth; Data Centers Add a Tailwind

Next up is Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN). While it is a semiconductor company and is generating data center-driven growth, Texas Instruments is far from the first chip stock investors think of when it comes to AI.

The stock has put up impressive gains in 2026, generating a total return of over 60%. Its approximately 2% dividend yield isn’t too shabby either, being among the highest of any chip stock and providing a meaningful return stream.

The company’s latest earnings reportwas filled with positives. Texas Instruments beat estimates on sales by over $200 million and grew at nearly 23% year-over-year (YOY), with its large industrial end market growing by 30% YOY. The firm also substantially exceeded EPS estimates, and data center revenue doubled YOY.

However, data centers are a relatively small business for Texas Instruments, accounting for just 9% of total sales in 2025. TI also experienced a strong gross margin expansion of 340 basis points, moving the figure to 61%. The report clearly impressed analysts, with MarketBeat tracking more than 10 price target increases afterward.

J.B. Hunt Catches a Bid on Intermodal Strength and Cost-Cutting

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) also curried a significant amount of favor among analysts in July. The stock posted its largest single-day gain of the year halfway through the month, rising over 8%. This added to the stock’s already strong run prior to this, with shares now up more than 35% in 2026. This came after J.B. Hunt released a much better-than-expected Q2 earnings report. The company’s revenue rose 19% YOY, good for its highest growth rate in nearly four years. J.B. Hunt also displayed significant operating leverage, with operating income rising by 32% YOY.

J.B. Hunt combined higher shipping volumes with cost-cutting to achieve this. Its intermodal business line particularly impressed. Here, the company ships containers using a combination of trains and trucks. It noted that intermodal volumes rose 10% YOY to 578,000 loads, which set a quarterly record. 

Meanwhile, J.B. Hunt cut its structural costs by $135 million over the past year. These factors helped J.B. Hunt secureover 10 analyst price target increases, as well as multiple ratings boosts, the majority of which came after its strong report.

Notably, J.B. Hunt sees more runway to reduce costs and expand its intermodal business, given rising trucking rates and fuel costs. The company’s ability to execute on these opportunities and increase intermodal pricing are key watch items for 2027.

Texas Instruments: Can Automotive Chip Recovery Continue Picking Up Steam?

Analysts continue to show confidence in Texas Instruments’ outlook, with the MarketBeat consensus price target near $312, implying approximately 10% upside in shares. One factor that could lead to even more optimism going forward is a continued recovery of its automotive segment.

That market was in a downturn for some time and began to rebound last year. The company noted that growth accelerated in Q2 2026, with sales rising by a mid-teens percentage. Because automotive sales accounted for 33% of total revenue in 2025, a further uptick in growth could have a significant impact on the firm’s bottom line. This makes acceleration in automotive sales a key factor to watch, potentially leaving TI with three business lines growing by more than 20%. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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More Stories

• 3 of the Market’s Most-Upgraded Tech Stocks Right Now
• Symbotic’s Q3 Profit Inflection Signals Underrated Growth Story
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• Why Coca-Cola Is Winning While AI Stocks Grab the Headlines
• 3 Major Earnings Winners You May Have Missed
• Is Wingstop’s Growth Story Losing Steam?
• AI Data Centers Are Splitting Winners From Pretenders in Infrastructure Stocks

The Night Owl is a financial newsletter that provides in-depth market analysis on stocks of interest to individual investors. Published by MarketBeat and Early Bird Publishing, The Night Owl is delivered around 9:00 PM Eastern Sunday through Thursday. If you give a hoot about the market, The Night Owl is the newsletter for you.

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