Top Robotics Stocks for Q4 2022

The number of robotics and automation companies has increased dramatically in recent decades as corporations seek to produce goods and services more efficiently, often replacing more expensive human employees in the process. In recent years, the urgency to automate to cut labor costs has accelerated due to intensifying global competition and other forces. Examples of companies that offer robotics solutions and products include Cognex Corp., Cadence Design Systems Inc., and U.K.-based Blue Prism Group PLC.

Robot and automation stocks, as represented by the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO), an exchange-traded fund, have significantly underperformed the broader market. The ETF has provided investors with a total return of -33.3% over the past 12 months, below the -9.8% total return of the S&P 500 Index.

Here are the top three robotics stocks in each category: best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum. The market performance numbers above and all statistics in the tables below are as of Sept. 14, 2022.

Best-Value Robotics Stocks

These are the robotics stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows that you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

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• Kion Group AG: Kion Group is a Germany-based maker of warehouse trucks, including forklifts, counterbalance trucks, towing vehicles, and automated trucks and autonomous vehicles.
• ABB Ltd.: ABB is a Switzerland-based provider of power and automation technologies. The company offers power systems, process automation, automation products, and robotics. On Sept. 7, ABB announced that its shareholders had approved the spinoff of its Accelleron turbocharging division. Upon the completion of the spinoff, ABB shareholders will receive one Accelleron share for every 20 ABB Ltd. shares held. Accelleron is expected to be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich on Oct. 3, 2022.
• Teradyne Inc.: Teradyne supplies automation equipment used for test and industrial applications. It offers semiconductor, wireless, and system test products and services, as well as industrial automation services.

Fastest-Growing Robotics Stocks

These are the top robotics stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly year-over-year (YOY) percentage revenue growth and most recent quarterly YOY earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore, ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one figure or the other unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of more than 2,500% were excluded as outliers.

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• Cadence Design Systems Inc.: Cadence Design Systems is a provider of software, design, and consulting services. The company licenses electronic design automation software used to develop complex chips and electronic systems such as semiconductors. The company reported Q2 2022 earnings for the period ended July 2 on July 25, 2022. Net income grew by 19.9% year-over-year (YOY) on nearly equivalent revenue growth, driven by strong growth across all product categories.
• Globus Medical Inc.: Globus Medical is a medical device company that creates musculoskeletal implants and robotic tools to treat orthopedic traumas.
• John Bean Technologies Corp.: John Bean Technologies (known as JBT Corp.) is a technology company that provides production equipment and related services to the food and beverage industry as well as the aviation support industry. The company's most recent quarterly dividend of 10 cents per common share was paid on Sept. 6.

Robotics Stocks with the Most Momentum

These are the robotics stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

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• Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc.: Helix Energy Solutions Group is an international offshore energy services company that provides well intervention and robotics services. On Aug. 29, Helix announced that its subsidiary Deepwater Abandonment Alternatives Inc. had acquired a 62.5% interest in Mississippi Canyon Block 734, known as Thunder Hawk Field, in the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected that Helix will provide plug and abandonment services for the operation.
• AeroVironment Inc.: AeroVironment is a robotics, sensors, and software analytics company that serves the defense, government, and commercial sectors. On Sept. 13, AeroVironment announced the launch of the VAPOR 55 MX, a VAPOR Helicopter unmanned aircraft system. The VAPOR 55 MX can carry 12 pounds of payload with more than 70 minutes of flight endurance.
• Cadence Design Systems Inc.: See above for company description.
  

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