A lot of investor attention is focused on Elon Musk's electric vehicle company, Tesla (TSLA +2.05%), which is developing humanoid work robots called Optimus, expected to be commercially available late next year. Investors may also be aware that Agility Robotics, a company working on similar tech, is expected to go public soon. A bunch of factories and warehouses are using autonomous automation to improve efficiency.
The one robotics name practically no one's talking about that everyone should know, however, is an up-and-comer called Symbotic (SYM +1.35%). Here's a closer look.
Image source: Getty Images.
Symbotic's story
If the name seems vaguely familiar, it's likely because it has such close ties to mega-retailer Walmart (WMT +0.71%). Walmart is arguably the chief reason the company as we know it exists at all; in fact, nearly a decade ago, the retailer needed a way to optimize merchandise handling at a handful of its distribution centers.
Walmart tapped then-nascent Symbotic and then, early last year, sold its separately developed Advanced Systems and Robotics to the robotics specialist. Walmart is also a major shareholder and Symbotic's single biggest customer.
It's not its only customer, though. Having seen the benefits of Symbotic's AI-enabled warehouse automation, Albertsons, Target, and others are now getting on board the artificial intelligence automation train as opportunity, money -- and production capacity -- allow.
As of June, Symbotic's backlog stood at $22.5 billion. That's more than 30 times that same quarter's revenue, and nearly 10 times this year's expected top line of $2.8 billion, which is projected to grow 30% to $3.63 billion next year (and pushing the company deeper into the black as a result). At their current paces, Symbotic's backlog is likely to continue expanding for a while before it finally starts shrinking.
It's all a testament to the impact of warehouse automation, of course. While long-dreamed-of, it's only now that this technology is reliable enough to do all it's needed to do at least as accurately and as quickly as humans can.
To this end, Symbotic's top products are articulated arms that know exactly what and where to pick, place, and pack, and rolling self-driven flatbeds that can carry hundreds of pounds' worth of goods from one part of a warehouse to another. Although not as exciting as humanoid robots like those being developed by Tesla, Symbotic's solutions are practical, particularly in high-volume physical settings.
And the opportunity is significant. An outlook from Global Market Insights suggests the worldwide warehouse robotics market alone is poised to grow at an average annual rate of 23.1% through 2034, reaching $117.3 billion.
Room for upside
It's not that nobody's noticed. SYM shares have seen a handful of bullish runs since going public in 2022, and they're still up since then. They've performed pretty poorly since late last year, though, as the market tries to figure out what the future holds for Symbotic and how ready it is to navigate it.
NASDAQ: SYM
Key Data Points
Nevertheless, it wouldn't be wrong to add it to your watch list if not your portfolio. The analyst community remains bullish, even if the crowd isn't right now, with a consensus price target of $62.86, which is 45% above this ticker's current price.
