Robohub.org
 

Adept Technologies: Ready to be acquired?


by
11 September 2013



share this:

Adept Technologies (NASDAQ:ADEP) has been in the financial news for months. First because of poor financial showings; then because of a management shakeup; and recently because the “turnaround plan” has worked well enough that shareholders are bidding the stock up to new highs.

In 2010 Adept Technologies acquired MobileRobots and began a process of professionalizing their mobile robots to Adept’s and their customer’s standards — a process that culminated in 2012.
But by 2012 Adept’s earnings were negative and sales were going down. There were layoffs and shifts in people and activities. This lead to a board- and VC-mandated restructuring plan which sent out Rob Cain as an advisor/consultant to develop that plan.
In early 2013 the results were that the CEO was replaced by Cain and the company instituted a series of actions to become profitable. But when this happened there were many rumors and blog reports that the company was to be sold off for it’s patents, customer list and facilities. Others suggested that it was going into bankruptcy.

Last week, the most recent quarterly earnings report came out and it showed that three things happened: (1) the big losses were quelled – the company broke even; (2) clients were buying Adepts products; and (3) the company was focusing on reducing costs, increasing sales and quality. One analyst reported: “While the June 2013 quarter represents a tentative improvement, it shows demand for Adept’s robots is returning and the company has a much lower cost structure than one year earlier.”

The stock rallied to close at $5.90 – an increase of 126% year-to-date yet the market cap is just $64 million. A small price for a good company.

This may be the perfect time for Adept to be acquired. All the big contract manufacturers are buying robots and creating internal robot operations. Foxconn has even set up its own Foxbot line of robots. Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX), Foxconn (TPE:2354), Jabil (NYSE:JBL), Celestica (TSE:CLS), New Kinpo, Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) and Benchmark (NYSE:BHE) are perfect candidates.

We’ll just have to wait and see.



tags:


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.

            AUAI is supported by:



Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

When expressive humanoid robots are awkward, people become wary – new brain study

  31 Aug 2026
People become more suspicious of a humanoid robot that makes errors, especially when the robot is an expressive conversation partner.

First 11 vs 11 humanoid soccer game played at RoboCup 2026

  28 Aug 2026
Watch highlights from this historic match.

How green is your robot? And other awkward questions

Robots clean rivers and sort waste, monitor ecosystems, and inspect renewable-energy infrastructure. But even the greenest robot has an environmental footprint.

These tiny drones are powered by sound

  24 Aug 2026
EPFL engineers have designed acoustic cavities that convert sound waves into thrust, propelling small robots and ultralight aerial vehicles without on-board actuators or electronics.

#AAMAS2026 blue sky award winner: Foundation world models for agents in changing environments

and   21 Aug 2026
Hear from the AAMAS 2026 Best Blue Sky Paper Award winner.

Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: Japan

Robots have been a prolific theme in Japanese pop culture and media since the 1950s

Intermittent swimming promotes the energy efficiency of fish-like robot movements

How zebrafish-inspired robots save energy by swimming in bursts.

What does it take for a robot to hold a conversation with a room, not just a person?

and   14 Aug 2026
Find out about a summer school held at Imperial College London.



AUAI is supported by:







Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence