A lot of investors are seeing their portfolios move higher in 2023, but some stocks are outright feasting in this climate where out-of-favor names are back in fashion. We may be just halfway through the second month of the year, but dozens of stocks have already more than doubled.
Shares of SoundHound AI (SOUN -1.17%), Opendoor (OPEN -1.03%), and Velo3D (VLD -0.73%) are trading a respective 121%, 102%, and 105% higher so far this year through Wednesday's close. What's making those names tick? Let's take a closer look at these three hot stocks that are on the move.
SoundHound AI
When you think about conversational intelligence, you might concoct images of Ivy Leaguers at a cocktail party or a Mensa speed-dating event -- but it's a lot cooler than that for SoundHound AI. The company operates an independent voice artificial intelligence (AI) platform, giving businesses a way to use AI-enhanced tools for speech recognition, transcription, and computer-generated speech to deliver a better conversational experience for their customers.
There are a lot of brands you know that are leaning on SoundHound AI's next-gen approach to customer service. Mercedes-Benz, Netflix, and Pandora are just some of its clients. Last year, it signed a global seven-year deal with Hyundai, prying it from the grasp of a rival.
Image source: Getty Images.
SoundHound may have some pretty big customers on its roster, but it's still early in the revenue-recognition process. Three weeks ago, it announced preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and all of 2022. It expects to report roughly $31 million in revenue for the entire year, and that's actually at the high end of its earlier guidance range.
Ringing up $31 million on the top line translates to 46% growth for 2022, and SoundHound expects revenue gains to accelerate by climbing approximately 50% in 2023. With a foundation of $300 million in bookings, it has a long runway of growth on the way, but with a market cap approaching $800 million, it's certainly not cheap.
SoundHound also isn't profitable but is working on it. The company announced a targeted restructuring that it expects will reduce costs by 40%. It now expects to be operating-cash-flow positive by the fourth quarter of this year.
Opendoor
Flipping homes isn't easy these days. Holding costs have gotten more expensive with interest rates rising, and there's no longer the expectation that a property purchased now can appreciate in the near future. It may seem odd to see Opendoor more than doubling in this icy real estate climate, but reality has been kinder than the public once feared.
Citi analyst Ygal Arounian boosted his price target on the shares earlier this week. He's sticking with a neutral rating on the shares but feels that the housing industry's macro indicators are starting to stabilize after months of decline. Mortgage rates have inched higher over the past week but remain well below their November highs, despite subsequent Fed moves to tighten up the credit market.
There will be near-term challenges. Revenue may have soared 48% in the third quarter, but two months into the fourth quarter, Opendoor announced it would be laying off 18% of its staff.
It had $6.1 billion worth of homes on its portfolio at the end of September. It was a scary prospect at the time, but if the real estate market is bottoming out here -- and can begin to bounce back this year -- Opendoor will be rewarded for sticking to its iBuyer niche when many of its peers threw in the towel.
Velo3D
Let's start with the big news for Cathie Wood fans. She did not add to her Velo3D position on Wednesday. The iconic growth money manager had purchased shares of the metal 3D-printing specialist in 10 of the previous 12 trading days for her Ark Invest family of exchange-traded funds.
Velo3D's Sapphire printers serve the aerospace, aviation, industrial power, and oil and gas industries. If their assembly lines falter for hard-to-get metal parts, Velo3D's additive manufacturing solutions are there to make the mission-critical components cheaper and likely faster than securing the part through a third-party vendor.
Like SoundHound AI, Velo3D is early in its growth cycle. Revenue clocked in at just $27.4 million in 2021, but its updated guidance calls for between $80 million and $81 million for all of 2023.
Wood's shopping spree has drawn investor interest to Velo3D. It's up 64% since she started buying on Jan. 30. Some of that good fortune is also Velo3D's handiwork. It boosted its full-year guidance a few days into Wood's purchasing run, but that did come a couple of months after lowering its outlook. For now, the 3D printing stock is printing money for its shareholders.
