Google's (GOOGL 0.35%) acquisitions of several robotics companies have been making a lot of headlines recently, which has led to some incredible investor demand in this space. This is part of what catalyzed stocks such as Adept Technology (NASDAQ: ADEP) and iRobot (IRBT 3.13%) to jump 554% and 254%, respectively, over the past year. Are these the plays to make for investors looking to get in on a piece of this sector?
Chart courtesy of Bloomberg
In this video, Motley Fool industrials analyst Blake Bos tells investors what he's looking for when he considers investing in the robotics sector. While a number of the largest international players in the space are traded on international exchanges, where the fee structure wouldn't make sense for the amount Blake's looking to buy, one alternative that he suggests is the Robo-Stox Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO -0.24%), giving diversified access to a number of companies in this space.
However, he also sees this move as potentially a big mistake. The investment isn't based on the strength or prospects of a particular company, but rather on the macro belief that advances in cloud computing and machine intelligence could eventually lead to adoption of the technology in new industries. Blake discusses the risk involved with making a macro-only play like this, and tells investors how big of a bite he's taking personally here.
