Earning enough money to invest in the stock market can be challenging. Covering your everyday living expenses, shedding burdensome credit card debt, and building up your emergency savings all need to come first.
But if you have managed to scrape together some cash to invest -- say, $1,000 or so -- and you want to try to double it over the next few years, your best bet is to find a high-powered growth stock, preferably one that's set to benefit from powerful technological trends. Symbotic (SYM +5.26%) is a prime example of this sort of investment.
Here's why.
NASDAQ: SYM
Key Data Points
Symbotic is reinventing supply chains with AI
Logistics are becoming more complex every day. Labor strikes, congested ports, rising fuel costs, and a host of other factors are making it more difficult -- and expensive -- for companies to move their products from suppliers to customers. To help offset these challenges, Symbotic wants to bring a previously unattainable level of efficiency to global supply chains by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI).
Symbotic is a leader in warehouse automation technology. Its AI-powered robots can move autonomously through its distribution facilities at speeds of more than 20 miles per hour. Its proprietary system -- which is protected by over 500 patents -- fulfills orders with 99.99% accuracy with less inventory and cost. Machine learning software orchestrates the process with minimal human supervision.
These efficiency gains and cost savings have caught the attention of some of the world's largest retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Albertsons. Notably, Walmart is implementing Symbotic's robotics platform in all 42 of its regional distribution centers as part of its supply chain modernization efforts.
Commenting on the partnership, David Guggina, Walmart's senior vice president of innovation and automation, said:
The need for accuracy and speed in the supply chain has never been more visible, and we're confident that now is the time to move even faster by scaling Symbotic's technology to our entire regional distribution center network ... Using high-speed robotics and intelligent software to organize and optimize inventory, the Symbotic System helps us get products to our customers quickly and seamlessly by revolutionizing how we receive and distribute products to stores.
That's a powerful vote of confidence from a retail titan known for its logistics prowess.
Torrid growth in an enormous market
Symbotic's revenue soared 77% year over year to $312 million in its fiscal third quarter, which ended on June 24. The company is not yet profitable, but its margins are moving in the right direction. Symbotic generated an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $3 million in the third quarter, compared to a loss of $22 million in the prior-year period. The company is on track to achieve sustained profitability as it scales its operations over time.
At a market capitalization of roughly $17 billion, Symbotic's shares are justifiably priced at a premium due to its superior AI technology and vast expansion potential. But there's still a solid chance that its stock could double in value in the coming years.
Despite its impressive growth, Symbotic is just scratching the surface of a market opportunity that management pegs at a whopping $350 billion. That leaves plenty of room for this AI leader to continue to grow briskly for many years. Better still, with its massive order backlog of $23 billion, much of Symbotic's future growth is assured.
