CTV National News: New record-high for oversea exports as exports to U.S. falls
New trade numbers show that while exports to the U.S. are down, exports overseas to new markets reached a record high. Rachel Aiello breaks it down.
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Globe and Mail
36 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Why Is Everyone Talking About SoundHound AI Stock?
Key Points SoundHound provides an independent AI voice platform to customers across multiple industries. It has a total addressable market of $140 billion. The company is growing at triple-digit rates. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most significant trends of our generation, thanks to its transformative effects that will impact almost every aspect of our lives. Think of it as revolutionary as electricity and the internet. Unsurprisingly, investors have been doubling down on companies well-positioned to leverage this trend, such as Nvidia, Palantir, and Tesla. But AI will bring opportunities not only to these big tech giants but also to smaller, up-and-coming future tech giants. SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) is one of them. A leading voice AI platform Initially founded in 2005 as a music recognition company, SoundHound has evolved into a broader AI voice platform company with proprietary technology that understands and responds to human speech in real time. The company's value proposition, though complex to achieve, is relatively straightforward. It provides a voice platform that's embedded directly into products (such as cars) without requiring the use of cloud-based assistants like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. With the help of its software, users can use voice as an interface to interact with smart devices, cars, or other Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Leveraging its technology in voice recognition and natural language understanding, the company has built a proprietary offering that's independent of consumer tech companies like Microsoft and Alphabet. According to the company, its technology surpasses that of competitors in terms of speed, accuracy, and understanding of complex language. With its technology stack, it allows for the provision of best-in-class service while giving customers complete control over their brand, users, and data. Additionally, SoundHound has leveraged the latest AI technologies, including generative AI, to develop its voice AI agent. The AI agent can function on smartphones, SMS, kiosks, mobile apps, and web chats, helping customers tackle a wide range of customer service activities across multiple industries. Currently, the company's main customers are automotive and hospitality businesses, quick-service restaurants, and call centers. In return for providing its voice platform, SoundHound generates revenue primarily through three channels. First, it receives royalties on products -- cars, smart TVs, and IoT devices -- that incorporate its voice platform. Here, customers pay based on volume, usage, per device, or user. Next, it generates software-as-a-service revenue from services such as food ordering and customer service. Here, customers pay on a monthly contract or a usage basis. The last pillar of SoundHound's revenue centers around advertising and commerce, where it earns a commission by enabling sales of customer products and services. Ample opportunity to grow Although AI voice platform adoption may still be in its early stages, customers appreciate the solutions SoundHound provides, which explains its solid growth rate. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue grew 151% to $29.1 million. Better still, there are good reasons to expect the company can sustain its high growth trajectory for a while. According to the company, it has a total addressable market (TAM) of $140 billion across various industries. At an annualized revenue rate of around $120 million, it has just scratched the surface. Let's consider a few of the most apparent areas, starting with the automotive industry. SoundHound has just achieved 3%-5% penetration of its existing customers' 25 million unit sales. That's 28% of global light vehicle sales of 88 million in 2024 -- a vehicle category that may reach 95 million units in 2028. The company can increase its penetration even further by growing with existing customers or adding new client brands. To this end, the tech company's existing experience working with automakers, its leading technology, as well as its independent platform (an alternative to Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant) are some advantages it can leverage to grow its market share. The other obvious growth avenue is its subscription service in the restaurant industry. Increasing labor shortages, rising wages, and customer demand for fast service make voice automation an attractive tool for restaurant operators. Just in the U.S. alone, SoundHound has a revenue opportunity of $1 billion and a TAM of 0.8 million restaurants. Chipotle, Five Guys, and Casey's are a few examples of its growing list of customers. It is also worth noting that the SoundHound voice AI platform offers solutions in 25 languages (which can expand further over time), allowing it to provide its services to customers globally. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the company announced deals with customers in Latin America, Europe, and Japan and joined forces with Tencent Intelligent Mobility. The sky seems to be the limit. What it means for investors SoundHound AI is no longer just a niche voice assistant company -- it's evolving into a mission-critical AI platform for some of the world's largest industries. Whether it's powering intelligent voice assistants in cars, automating food orders at restaurants, or handling customer service calls with conversational AI agents, SoundHound is betting on voice recognition to be the next central interface -- and it's building a proprietary infrastructure to support its expansion. Still, investors should be mindful that the road ahead will be rocky, especially with the adoption of new technologies like AI voice platforms. It's best to monitor the company closely to build your understanding and conviction. Should you invest $1,000 in SoundHound AI right now? Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and SoundHound AI wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Lawrence Nga has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Tencent, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Casey's General Stores and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short June 2025 $55 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Perma Bull and Wall Street Strategist Tom Lee Is Betting $250 Million On This Cryptocurrency (Hint: Not Bitcoin)
Given Strategy 's (formerly MicroStrategy) success as a Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) treasury company, many other companies are now following in its footsteps. For those unaware, Strategy, formerly a business intelligence company founded by Michael Saylor, who remains the company's executive chairman, began using corporate capital to buy Bitcoin in 2020. The stock has rocketed since then, and eventually, Saylor and Strategy gained enough credibility to tap the capital markets for funding that it could then use to buy Bitcoin. This essentially made Strategy a leveraged play on Bitcoin. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Recently, Bitmine Immersion Companies (NYSEMKT: BMNR), a Bitcoin mining company, just named the prolific Wall Street strategist Tom Lee of Fundstrat as its chairman. The company also announced a $250 million private placement, which it will use to purchase Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market value. Is it Ethereum's time? Since Donald Trump won the presidential election last November, several of the largest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and XRP, have done quite well. Ethereum, not so much. Bitcoin Price data by YCharts It's hard to pinpoint exactly why Ethereum has not shared in the gains, but perhaps a better explanation is that Bitcoin and XRP have simply enjoyed more catalysts. Bitcoin has benefited from being viewed as a form of digital gold, while XRP has surged as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ended its long-standing lawsuit against Ripple, the company behind XRP, and due to the possible launch of spot-XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The underperformance has opened the door for investors who feel like Ethereum is being unjustly left behind, Lee being one of them. Not only has Lee become a well-known contributor on CNBC, but he's made some prescient calls in recent years on the price of the broader market, as well as Bitcoin. Lee is typically bullish and nailed bull market calls in 2023 and 2024. Lee has previously said he thinks the broader benchmark S&P 500 could hit 15,000 by 2030 (the index now trades at about 6,200). He's also quite bullish on Ethereum as the crypto and financial sectors become more integrated, as he recently said on CNBC: The financial services industry and crypto are converging and it really started with stablecoins, which is the ChatGPT of crypto because it's viral adoption by consumers, business banks and now even Visa. Underneath the stablecoin industry is Ethereum -- that is really the backbone and architecture of stablecoins so it's important to create a project that accumulates Ethereum to essentially protect and have some influence on the network. As a reminder, stablecoins are digital assets pegged to a currency or commodity. They are intended to take advantage of the technology behind the blockchain while leaving behind the volatility associated with cryptocurrencies. Many believe they could be extremely helpful for those without access to the banking system because you can use them to transfer money anywhere with internet access. Lee thinks banks could use Ethereum's proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to secure stablecoin issuances in the future. PoS involves selecting validators based on the number of Ether tokens users have to confirm transactions and mint new blocks. In a way, Ethereum is already a core part of the plumbing of the burgeoning stablecoin network. That's because it's one of the most commonly used blockchain networks in the U.S. Circle's USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, with a market cap of about $61 billion, is an ERC-20 token, meaning it was initially created on Ethereum's blockchain. Lee also noted that more than 30% of fees generated on Ethereum are from stablecoins. Is Ethereum about to go on a Bitcoin-like run? Part of Lee and Bitmine's bet on Ethereum has to do with the stablecoin market. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already said he thinks stablecoins could go from a $250 billion market today to $2 trillion. If that happens, Lee thinks Ethereum's network is likely to benefit immensely because of all the network fees, which will perhaps make Ethereum more ubiquitous. Interestingly, since the news of Tom Lee joining as chairman and the $250 million private placement, Bitmine's stock has soared more than 1,300% (as of July 1), although Ethereum's price hasn't moved much. Remember, cryptocurrencies are difficult to value because they don't generate earnings like a company. I've been surprised that Ethereum's price has stayed so muted while Bitcoin has soared. As a cryptocurrency, Ethereum certainly has one of the best use cases due to all of the activity on its network from decentralized applications and its proof-of-staking concept, so I think it could be due for a run at some point. Should you invest $1,000 in Ethereum right now? Before you buy stock in Ethereum, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Ethereum wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $697,627!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $939,655!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,045% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to178%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Trump branded, browbeat and prevailed. But his big bill may come at a political cost
President Donald Trump holds a gavel after he signed his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Washington, surrounded by members of Congress. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) WASHINGTON — Barack Obama had the Affordable Care Act. Joe Biden had the Inflation Reduction Act. U.S. President Donald Trump will have the tax cuts. All were hailed in the moment and became ripe political targets in campaigns that followed. In Trump's case, the tax cuts may almost become lost in the debates over other parts of the multitrillion-dollar bill that Democrats say will force poor Americans off their health care and overturn a decade or more of energy policy. Through persuasion and browbeating, Trump forced nearly all congressional Republicans to line up behind his marquee legislation despite some of its unpalatable pieces. He followed the playbook that had marked his life in business before politics. He focused on branding — labeling the legislation the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' — then relentlessly pushed to strong-arm it through Congress, solely on the votes of Republicans. But Trump's victory will soon be tested during the 2026 midterm elections where Democrats plan to run on a durable theme: that the Republican president favors the rich on tax cuts over poorer people who will lose their health care. Trump and Republicans argue that those who deserve coverage will retain it. Nonpartisan analysts, however, project significant increases to the number of uninsured. Meanwhile, the GOP's promise that the bill will turbocharge the economy will be tested at a time of uncertainty and trade turmoil. Trump has tried to counter the notion of favoring the rich with provisions that would reduce the taxes for people paid in tips and receiving overtime pay, two kinds of earners who represent a small share of the workforce. Extending the tax cuts from Trump's first term that were set to expire if Congress failed to act meant he could also argue that millions of people would avoid a tax increase. To enact that and other expensive priorities, Republicans made steep cuts to Medicaid that ultimately belied Trump's promise that those on government entitlement programs 'won't be affected.' 'The biggest thing is, he's answering the call of the forgotten people. That's why his No. 1 request was the no tax on tips, the no tax on overtime, tax relief for seniors,' said Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. 'I think that's going to be the big impact.' Hard to reap the rewards Presidents have seen their signature legislative accomplishments unraveled by their successors or become a significant political liability for their party in subsequent elections. A central case for Biden's reelection was that the public would reward the Democrat for his legislative accomplishments. That never bore fruit as he struggled to improve his poll numbers driven down by concerns about his age and stubborn inflation. Since taking office in January, Trump has acted to gut tax breaks meant to boost clean energy initiatives that were part of Biden's landmark health care-and-climate bill. Obama's health overhaul, which the Democrat signed into law in March 2010, led to a political bloodbath in the midterms that fall. Its popularity only became potent when Republicans tried to repeal it in 2017. Whatever political boost Trump may have gotten from his first-term tax cuts in 2017 did not help him in the 2018 midterms, when Democrats regained control of the House, or in 2020 when he lost to Biden. 'I don't think there's much if any evidence from recent or even not-so-recent history of the president's party passing a big one-party bill and getting rewarded for it,' said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst with the nonpartisan University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Social net setbacks Democrats hope they can translate their policy losses into political gains. During an Oval Office appearance in January, Trump pledged he would 'love and cherish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.' 'We're not going to do anything with that, other than if we can find some abuse or waste, we'll do something,' Trump said. 'But the people won't be affected. It will only be more effective and better.' That promise is far removed from what Trump and the Republican Party ultimately chose to do, paring back not only Medicaid but also food assistance for the poor to make the math work on their sweeping bill. It would force 11.8 million more people to become uninsured by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office, whose estimates the GOP has dismissed. 'In Trump's first term, Democrats in Congress prevented bad outcomes. They didn't repeal the (Affordable Care Act), and we did COVID relief together. This time is different,' said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. 'Hospitals will close, people will die, the cost of electricity will go up, and people will go without food.' Some unhappy Republicans Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., repeatedly argued the legislation would lead to drastic coverage losses in his home state and others, leaving them vulnerable to political attacks similar to what Democrats faced after they enacted 'Obamacare.' With his warnings unheeded, Tillis announced he would not run for reelection, after he opposed advancing the bill and enduring Trump's criticism. 'If there is a political dimension to this, it is the extraordinary impact that you're going to have in states like California, blue states with red districts,' Tillis said. 'The narrative is going to be overwhelmingly negative in states like California, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey.' Even Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who eventually became the decisive vote in the Senate that ensured the bill's passage, said the legislation needed more work and she urged the House to revise it. Lawmakers there did not. Early polling suggests that Trump's bill is deeply unpopular, including among independents and a healthy share of Republicans. White House officials said their own research does not reflect that. So far, it's only Republicans celebrating the victory. That seems OK with the president. In a speech in Iowa after the bill passed, he said Democrats only opposed it because they 'hated Trump.' That didn't bother him, he said, 'because I hate them, too.' Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report. Seung Min Kim, The Associated Press
