10 Best Robotics Stocks To Buy According To Hedge Funds

In this piece, we will take a look at the ten best robotics stocks to buy according to hedge funds.

The advances in technology have revolutionized and disrupted nearly every major industry and significantly impacted our way of living. Not only is the modern day individual able to communicate across thousands of miles in the blink of an eye, but companies are able to store massive amounts of data and revolutionize their operations.

One way in which firms have heavily benefited from the technological revolution is robotics. Computing power allows smaller processors to handle large amounts of data, which in turn enables mechatronic devices to perform new and unique actions. The robotics market is disrupting several industries such as healthcare and logistics, and naturally, industry research firms have optimistic estimates for it.

A market research report from Mordor Intelligence estimates that the global robotics market was worth $27 billion in 2020 and it will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.45% to sit at an estimated value of $74 billion by the end of 2026.  Powering this growth will be vehicle production and industrialization robots, both of which also play a crucial role for some of the companies that we have identified in this post. Robotics allows firms to reduce their operating costs and streamline the production flow, which in turn boosts their output and improves margins.

Another report, this time from Next Move Strategy Consulting, narrows down its focus on the industrial robotics segment of the industry. It estimates that this segment was worth $32 billion last year, and it will be worth $88 billion by 2030 through a CAGR of 12.1%. The report uses data from the Robot Industry Association to outline that more than 250,000 robots had been adopted in the U.S. in 2019, and the robotics sector actually benefited from the coronavirus pandemic as labor shortages made firms look elsewhere to meet their staffing requirements.

Finally, Allied Market Research also sets its eyes on the industrial robotics market. It estimates that the market will be worth a whopping $116 billion in 2030, as it grows at a strong 11.7% CAGR from its value of $38 billion in 2020. The automotive and electronics manufacturing industries are the largest users of robots, as per the research firm, and China held the dominant market share in 2020.

Therefore, the robotics industry seems to be growing particularly due to heavy duty use, and in our piece for you today, we have identified some of the top players in the segment. Out of these, some companies that are likely to catch your eye (and even surprise you), are Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL).

Our Methodology

We took a look at some of the largest companies in the world that are using robots for their core operations, and some others that sell them to see which of these are key players in the industry. The firms were then selected through hedge fund interest generated through Insider Monkey’s Q2 2022 survey of 895 funds.

Let’s begin our list of the best robotics stocks to buy according to elite hedge funds.

Best Robotics Stocks To Buy According To Hedge Funds

10. Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is an American company that caters to the needs of the U.S. military and the industrial, power generation, and aerospace markets. As part of its industrial products, the firm also provides systems and subsystems for a wide variety of robotic control equipment. These include joystick controls, solenoids, and rotary position sensors among others.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) aims to grow its revenues at a CAGR ranging between 5% to 10% between 2021 and 2023, which implies revenue of $3.1 billion by the end of this year. Its latest fiscal quarter results, released in August 2022, saw the company beat analyst revenue and EPS estimates, as Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) posted $609 million in revenue and $1.83 in non-GAAP EPS.

Insider Monkey scanned 895 hedge fund portfolios for the second quarter of this year to discover that 21 had held a stake in the company. The firm won a large contract from the U.S. Navy in September 2022, which will see it provide a host of components for the Virginia class nuclear attack submarines for a cool $220 million.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW)’s largest investor is Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group which owns 459,459 shares that are worth $60 million.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are joined by Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) in our list of the best robotics stocks to buy now.

9. Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) is an American company that provides industrial automation and digital transformation products to several industries. The firm’s industrial automation segment also includes robotics, as it partners with other companies to provide them with software for their robots.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) second fiscal quarter saw it grow its sales by 1.8% annually to $1.8 billion. Additionally, and despite the recent turbulent macroeconomic environment, the firm is guiding 10% revenue growth for the full fiscal year 2022, as it aims to bring in at least $7.8 billion in revenue.

Argus raised Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)’s share price target to $290 from $250 in August 2022 as it shared that the company is recovering from the effects of the pandemic. 28 out of Insider Monkey’s Q2 2022 survey of 895 hedge funds had held a stake in the company.

Out of these, Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management is Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)’s largest investor. It owns 834,081 shares that are worth $166 million.

8. Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) is an American company that helps its business customers with a variety of operations such as warehouse management and inventory tracking. The firm is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) is heavily invested in the autonomous mobile robots sphere, which lets warehouses manage their inventories and conduct day to day tasks through robots. The company’s software offers optimized robot use within warehouses, by increasing efficiencies in areas such as eliminating pick waiting time. Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA)’s latest quarterly results, posted in August 2022, saw the company beat analyst revenue and non-GAAP EPS estimates.

However, at the same time, it reduced its EPS guidance for the third quarter, causing Needham to reduce its share price target to $350 from $400 in August 2022. Insider Monkey’s 895 hedge fund analysis for this year’s June quarter saw 33 as having invested in the company.

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA)’s largest investor is John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments which owns 358,716 shares that are worth $105 million.

7. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) is a healthcare company that is known for providing surgical robots to enable doctors and surgeons to conduct surgeries with the help of a mechanical aid. It also provides support and maintenance services for its products. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) is the market leader in robotic surgery systems through its Vinci platform. This system allows doctors to remotely perform surgeries Its latest quarterly report revealed that the installed user base for these systems increased to 6,920, a two fold victory for the company in terms of revenue and a larger customer base for support and maintenance services.

Truist lowered Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)’s share price target to $255 from $270 in July 2022, noting that weaker capital expenditures are negatives but maintaining that there is a growth in surgeries in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 56 out of the 895 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey for this year’s second quarter had invested in the firm.

Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)’s largest investor. It owns 4.6 million shares that are worth $923 million.

Baron Funds mentioned the company in its Q2 2022 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Intuitive Surgical, Inc. markets the da Vinci Surgical System, a robotic system used for minimally invasive surgical procedures. The stock declined along with other premium valuation, high-growth names due to investor concerns around inflation and rising interest rates. The potential for a more challenging sales environment for Intuitive’s hospital customer base also played a role. We continue to believe Intuitive has a long runway to expand the number of procedures performed using its robotic system.”

6. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is a pharmaceutical company that offers treatments for a wide variety of diseases such as plaque psoriasis, leukemia, lymphoma, constipation, anemia, and Parkinson’s disease. The firm also builds and uses robotic solutions that mimic human actions to enable workers to skip manual labor and switch toward complex problem solving. It is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois, the United States.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s robots are called Fred, Bert, St Bot, and CeSar. They are focused on different tasks, with Fred responsible for reviewing financial disclosure documents for the company’s clinical trials, Bert focusing on making a list of participants for these trials, St Bot analyzing site training documents to compare them to AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s internal database, and CeSar reviewing medical documents to ensure that they are accurate and easily understandable.

Insider Monkey’s Q2 2022 survey of 895 hedge funds saw 71 as having held a stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). Because of this high number of bullish hedge funds, ABBV makes it to the list of the best robotics stocks to buy now.

Out of these, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s largest investor is Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke, and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital which owns 4.2 million shares that are worth $654 million.

ClearBridge Investments mentioned the company in its Q2 2022 investor letter, which outlined that:

“We added to our health care exposure in the quarter with the purchases of Straumann Holding (OTCPK:SAUHF), a Swiss manufacturer of medical instruments, implants and related supplies for dental procedures, in the secular bucket and U.S. pharmaceutical maker AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the structural bucket. Straumann is the global market leader in dental implants with 29% overall share, a meaningful position within premium implants and smaller share in value implants. The company is also involved in clear aligners through a series of acquisitions as well as peripheral capital equipment around those businesses.

Growth will come from increasing share in both value implants and clear aligners through expansion in emerging markets on top of market growth in its premium implant business. AbbVie is undergoing a transition in anticipation of loss of exclusivity for its blockbuster Humira in the next several years with several commercial therapeutics, led by Skyrizi for psoriasis and Rinvoq for rheumatoid arthritis.”

Along with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is one of the best robotics stocks to buy now.

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5. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is the world’s premier manufacturer of electric vehicles, and it is known for extensively integrating robots in its manufacturing processes. The heavy lifting of a Tesla’s manufacturing process is done through robots. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is also developing its own robot for manufacturing assistance.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s new manufacturing robot is aptly dubbed the Tesla Bot. This is a small bot that will be capable of lifting loads up to 20 kilograms, and the company’s chief executive officer Mr. Elon Musk hopes to unveil a working prototype of the robot later this year. The Tesla Bot is intended to replace as many human tasks as it can, particularly those in dangerous environments that pose a threat to worker safety.

Insider Monkey’s Q2 2022 895 hedge fund survey saw 72 as having bought Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s shares.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s largest investor in our database is Catherine D. Wood’s ARK Investment Management which owns 1.4 million shares that are worth $1 billion.

4. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 93

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is a healthcare company that provides diagnostics and life sciences solutions, laboratory equipment, and other services and products. Its product portfolio also consists of different kinds of robots and the company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, the United States.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)’s robotic offerings include the F7 Robot System, the Spinnaker Microplate Robot, and the Orbitor RS2 Microplate mover. These aid pharmaceutical companies in their workflows and help them in areas such as biotechnology, synthetic biology, and other laboratory work.

Credit Suisse set a $765 price target for the company in August 2022. 93 of the 895 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey during this year’s June quarter had invested in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO).

Out of these, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)’s largest investor. It has a $1.2 billion stake that comes through 2.3 million shares.