by Fred Fuld III
The future business potential of robotics is significant and far-reaching. The use of robots in various industries has been growing rapidly, and this trend is likely to continue in the coming years. Here are some key areas where robotics is expected to have a significant impact on business:
- Manufacturing: Robotics has already revolutionized manufacturing, making it faster, more efficient, and more accurate. As the technology continues to improve, it is likely that more manufacturing processes will be automated, leading to even greater efficiency gains.
- Healthcare: Robots are already being used in healthcare for tasks such as surgery, rehabilitation, and even patient care. In the future, we can expect to see even more use of robots in healthcare, particularly in areas such as telemedicine and medical logistics.
- Logistics and Warehousing: Robotics has the potential to transform logistics and warehousing, making it faster and more efficient. With the growth of e-commerce and the increasing demand for fast delivery, the use of robots in logistics and warehousing is likely to increase significantly.
- Agriculture: Robots are already being used in agriculture for tasks such as planting, harvesting, and crop monitoring. As the world’s population continues to grow, the demand for food will also increase, and robotics could play a key role in meeting this demand.
- Construction: Robotics has the potential to revolutionize the construction industry, making it faster, safer, and more efficient. Robots can be used for tasks such as excavation, bricklaying, and even 3D printing of buildings.
- Education and Research: Robotics can be used in education and research to help students learn about robotics, programming, and automation. Additionally, robots can be used in research to collect data and perform experiments in dangerous or inaccessible environments.
Overall, the future business potential of robotics is enormous, and we can expect to see robots being used in many different industries and applications in the coming years. As the technology continues to improve, it is likely that we will see even more innovative uses of robotics in business.
In terms of investing in this field, there are a few pure plays, which include:
Teradyne (TER)
iRobot (IRBT)
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)
Each of these companies target specific markets.
For example, Teradyne is involved in the development and marketing of collaborative robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots, and advanced robotic control software.
The company’s markets include industrial, defense, memory testing, and wireless testing.
The stock has a $16 billion market cap. It trades at 24 times trailing earnings and 19 times forward earnings. The yield is 0.43%.
iRobot serves the home consumer market selling such products as the Roomba floor vacuuming robots.
The stock is currently generating negative earnings, however it is debt free and has $4.38 in cash per share.
Intuitive Surgical makes robots for the medical industry. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 64 and a forward P/E of 37. Earnings per share growth for next year is anticipated to be 17%.
One or more of these stocks may provide some automated growth to your portfolio.
Disclosure: Author didn’t;t own any of the above at the time the article was written.