If You'd Invested $10,000 in SoundHound AI Stock 3 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Despite some big valuation swings, SoundHound AI (SOUN 5.21%) stock has delivered huge wins for patient investors. The company went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in April 2022 and got off to a bit of a soggy start following its debut, but shareholders who took a buy-and-hold approach to the conversational artificial intelligence (AI) specialist have been richly rewarded. In fact, a $10,000 investment made in SoundHound AI stock three years ago would now be worth more than six times that amount. SoundHound AI stock is on a massive winning streak Over the past three years, SoundHound AI stock has delivered a return of 570%. That means that a $10,000 investment made in SoundHound AI stock three years ago would now be worth approximately $66,980 if you had held on to your position. How has the company been able to deliver such incredible returns for shareholders? For starters, the business has been serving up very strong sales growth. With the company's last quarterly report, sales reached $42.7 million -- up 217% year over year. Along with the strong sales result, the company also raised its full-year sales guidance to between $160 million and $178 million -- suggesting annual growth of nearly 100% at the midpoint of the guidance range. Along with very strong sales growth, excitement surrounding long-term opportunities in the AI market has meant that SoundHound has been able to command valuation multiples that bake in a lot of strong future growth. As of this writing, the company is valued at approximately 43.5 times this year's expected sales -- but investors have been willing to pay a premium to own the stock in hopes that its incredible sales growth eventually gives way to very strong earnings.