iRobot is on a tear

On February 5th iRobot reported their quarterly and annual report. 4Q revenue was up 25% from the previous year and full year 2013 revenue of $487 was up 12%.

“2013 was a great year for iRobot. Our Home Robot business increased 20 percent over 2012, driven by growth in both domestic and overseas markets,” said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO. “All three of our businesses met our expectations and made significant progress against their strategic plans, setting us up well for 2014.

Since that 2/5 announcement, iRobot’s stock has risen $10, about 23%. Pundits and financial analysts suggest the following reasons for the sudden rise in iRobot’s stock:

• Projected revenue for 2014 is $560-$570 million – about 16% higher than in 2013.
• A recent NASDAQ/Zacks report cited that among the 50 leading companies in the electronics and instruments industry, iRobot’s patent portfolio was ranked #5 in the Overall category. In the Science Strength category, the company received a #2 rank, while it was ranked #3 in the Industry Impact category. iRobot has approximently 238 patents in its name in the U.S. and more than 400 worldwide.
• Home robots are just getting started and iRobot’s new Roomba 880 is their most functionally useful floor cleaner yet and their new Scooba floor cleaner may be just as good.
• Remote presence robots, of which iRobot has two partnerships (with Cisco and InTouch Health) and their AVA mobile platform are still in their infancy but are likely to do well for the next few years.

Source: iRobot Press Release and NASDAQ/Zacks post

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.