For many investors, Symbotic (SYM 1.62%) is the right stock at the right time. The next-generation warehouse-robotics software specialist is at the forefront of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, as it harnesses this technology to make the machines "smarter" and more effective.

AI is hot among market players now, and Symbotic is a hot stock in the industry. Let's look at how it's performed since its June 2022 initial public offering (IPO), and whether the company's popularity is justified.

A quick and sprightly pop

To put a dollar figure to it, $1,000 invested in Symbotic on its first trading day (June 8, 2022, if you want to be precise) would be worth $2,560 today. In other words, in barely over a year and a half, the stock doubled and then some.

That's an impressive performance, even in the high-octane world of stocks associated most directly and readily with AI. By comparison, over that stretch of time a $1,000 outlay in C3.ai stock would be worth a comparatively light $1,384 now. Meanwhile the same amount invested in fellow robotics system specialist UiPath cashes out at $1,163 these days.

Symbotic has risen higher than these peers not least because of certain rapidly improving fundamentals. I'm looking particularly at the company's revenue, which at almost $1.18 billion in fiscal 2023 nearly doubled the tally of the previous year.

This performance derived from the company's main stock in trade, systems, the take for which zoomed from less than $568 million in the former year to nearly $1.14 billion in 2023. Its two other business lines -- software maintenance and support, and operation services -- rose at a respective 77% and 49% to comprise the remainder of the fiscal 2023 top line.

What's attractive about these numbers, besides the fiery growth percentages, is that they might just be poised to go much higher. The company claims it is in front of an AI-hungry warehouse robotics and supply chain modernization market that could be worth in excess of $350 billion.

Despite its relative youth, Symbotic is already identified with cutting-edge AI solutions for such environments. If it could capture even a small chunk of that burgeoning market, those growth numbers are poised to rise very meaningfully.

At the moment the company is unprofitable, but that's to be expected for a fast-growing and youthful business on the cutting edge of a particular technology. Its net loss deepened in 2023 to almost $208 million from the year-previous deficit of $139 million.

If we look at every young tech company's favored profitability metric, though --earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) -- we see that Symbotic actually posted a strong improvement over that stretch. On a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis, its EBITDA loss narrowed considerably, to less than $18 million from fiscal 2022's just under $90 million.

That's a quick and meaningful improvement, and a flashing green light that the bottom line might flip into positive territory before long.

2 famous clients, 1 eager shareholder

Another reason investors are cheerful about Symbotic is that it's already lined up some of the most famous corporate names in America as clients.

Walmart, which relies on warehouse efficiency and precision for its success, is not only a client, but it also holds a sizable ownership stake in Symbotic stock. As far as we know, neither Target nor Albertsons has followed suit with an equity buy-in, but they are active customers. Those well-known retailers bring in steady streams of revenue, sure, but perhaps more importantly, they legitimize and popularize Symbotic's technology.

Although AI as a leading, business-driving tech is still in its early stages and it's hard to crystal-ball which companies will dominate certain niches, Symbotic looks like a very good bet on warehouse automation. Even with its run-up in price, investors should seriously consider scooping up some shares anyway.