The trouble is, while lots of businesses are investing heavily in AI, those investments alone aren’t enough to ensure lasting success. Three AI stocks<\/a> in particular are looking very risky right now, and probably aren’t safe places for retirement savings.<\/p>\n Here are the three stocks investors might want to watch out for:<\/p>\n Image source: Getty Images.<\/p>\n 1. SoundHound AI: A small hound in a big pound<\/p>\n It’s been a rough year for voice-enabled AI chat platform SoundHound AI (SOUN<\/a> 1.83%). News that AI giant Nvidia sold its stake in the company caused share prices to plummet, and a third-quarter earnings report that showed a record generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP<\/a>) net loss of $109.3 million despite record revenue of $42 million prompted further sell-offs.<\/a><\/p>\n Today’s Change<\/p>\n (-1.83%) $-0.20<\/p>\n Current Price<\/p>\n $10.70<\/p>\n Key Data Points<\/p>\n Market Cap<\/p>\n $4.6B<\/p>\n Day’s Range<\/p>\n $10.52 – $10.92<\/p>\n 52wk Range<\/p>\n $6.52 – $24.98<\/p>\n Volume<\/p>\n 18M<\/p>\n Avg Vol<\/p>\n 37M<\/p>\n Gross Margin<\/p>\n 30.02%<\/p>\n The company does seem to be growing revenue from its voice-enabled AI chat platform, which is used primarily by restaurant drive-thrus and in automotive applications. However, SoundHound’s 2024 acquisition of agentic AI software company Amelia has given it the opportunity to expand into other customer-service-focused industries, like financial services and healthcare. That said, this technology isn’t new and has plenty of existing competition — Alexa, anyone? — so success is far from assured.<\/p>\n Even after its big share price drops and despite the competitive risks it’s facing, SoundHound’s stock is still trading at about 30 times trailing sales. That’s way more expensive on a price-to-sales basis than most other tech companies. It’s even more richly priced than AI leader Nvidia, which currently trades at 25 times trailing sales.<\/p>\n Until SoundHound can demonstrate that it can successfully expand into new industries, it looks way too overpriced to buy.<\/p>\n 2. BigBear.ai: The AI growth stock that isn’t growing<\/p>\n BigBear.ai (BBAI<\/a> 4.97%) offers several AI products, including data analytics and facial recognition software. It sells primarily to the U.S. military and other government security and intelligence agencies. But it hasn’t been nearly as successful as its security-focused AI peer Palantir Technologies (PLTR<\/a> 2.81%).<\/p>\n BigBear.ai’s revenue has been declining for three years, while other AI companies have achieved record sales. That trend doesn’t seem likely to change in 2025: Management has issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance of between $24.6 million and $39.6 million. That means BigBear.ai’s best-case Q4 scenario is “only” a 9.6% year-over-year revenue decline from Q4 2024’s $43.8 million, and its worst-case scenario is a much steeper 44% decline. Compare that to Palantir’s guidance of 61% revenue growth in Q4.<\/p>\n Today’s Change<\/p>\n (-4.97%) $-0.30<\/p>\n Current Price<\/p>\n $5.73<\/p>\n Key Data Points<\/p>\n Market Cap<\/p>\n $2.6B<\/p>\n Day’s Range<\/p>\n $5.69 – $6.05<\/p>\n 52wk Range<\/p>\n $2.36 – $10.36<\/p>\n Volume<\/p>\n 41M<\/p>\n Avg Vol<\/p>\n 121M<\/p>\n Gross Margin<\/p>\n 27.28%<\/p>\n If BigBear.ai were posting the kinds of margins that other AI companies have been able to manage — Palantir<\/a>‘s gross margin was 82.5% in Q3 — it could handle some slight revenue declines and still remain viable. But BigBear.ai’s gross margin is among the worst in the industry, at just 22.4% in Q3. That was down from 25% in Q2 2025 and 25.9% in Q3 2024, meaning that not only are the company’s sales slipping, but it’s also making less money per sale. <\/p>\n There’s hardly a single metric moving in the right direction for BigBear.ai: Its backlog is shrinking, its share dilution is growing, its net losses have been widening, and its operating cash burn<\/a> has been accelerating. Yet somehow, it’s still trading at a premium valuation of 14 times trailing sales. Even at a discount price, this stock<\/a> would be a tough sell. At this valuation, it’s almost laughably overpriced.<\/p>\n 3. Pony.ai: A new arrival<\/p>\n The third AI stock is one I’d avoid for a different reason.<\/p>\n Pony.ai (PONY<\/a> 4.59%) had its initial public offering (IPO)<\/a> less than a year ago. The company focuses on AI-powered autonomous vehicles and reported 72% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3, driven by robust growth in its robotaxi services and licensing revenue.<\/p>\n So why avoid this fast-growing young company? Well, it’s a little bit too young right now.<\/p>\n Today’s Change<\/p>\n (-4.59%) $-0.72<\/p>\n Current Price<\/p>\n $14.96<\/p>\n Key Data Points<\/p>\n Market Cap<\/p>\n $5.5B<\/p>\n Day’s Range<\/p>\n $14.21 – $15.50<\/p>\n 52wk Range<\/p>\n $4.11 – $24.92<\/p>\n Volume<\/p>\n 6.5M<\/p>\n Avg Vol<\/p>\n 5.9M<\/p>\n Gross Margin<\/p>\n 18.57%<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"Pony](\"https:\/\/g.foolcdn.com\/image\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Fart%2Fcompanylogos%2Fmark%2FPONY.png&w=128&op=resize\"\/)
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