Industrial robotics company Symbotic (SYM 9.50%) enjoyed a nearly double-digit rise in its stock price on Thursday, with its shares increasing by just under 10% in value. Investors were taken by a bullish initiation of coverage by an analyst now trading the company. Symbotic's bounce looked impressive when placed next to the under-0.1% advance of the S&P 500 index.
Launched with a buy
That entity behind the upgrade was Northcoast Research, whose analyst Keith Housum launched his coverage of Symbotic with a buy recommendation at a price target of $65 per share.
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The reasons for Housum's optimistic stance weren't immediately apparent. He's hardly the only pundit or investor bullish on Symbotic's future, however, as the company combines two hot tech and industrial trends -- artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, mainly geared to the warehouse segment.
Symbotic has quite the anchor client in retail industry giant Walmart, which owns an equity stake in the company and has tasked it with automating its warehouses.
The challenge for the future
As much as Americans like what Walmart has to offer, plus the fact that its outlets are nearly everywhere in this country, no person or company can live on that company alone.
The trick for Symbotic will be to rope in more clients and become a go-to provider of AI-enhanced robotics goods and services. There has been quite a run-up in the company's share price so far. However, this will be difficult to sustain if it doesn't expand the client list.
