Weekly Bot Brief Newsletter on Robotics 5/22/20

"There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come."     Victor Hugo

Bots in The News:

The market reaction to the re-opening of many economies throughout the world was swift and powerful, pushing stock holdings significantly higher. In the U.S., the S & P 500 gained 3.20% but that mark was less than half the return of the Bot Index. Led by seven stocks that experienced double digit gains for the week, the bots jumped 6.49%. That represented the fourth highest weekly gain during the four and a half year history of the Bot Index.

The bots were led by the 16.42% gain in the Japanese company Cyberdyne Inc. as the low price of its stock accentuated its percentage move on no apparent news.

iRobot Corp. rose 16.18%, continuing its streak of gains that have led the stock from $38.02 on April 4th to the current price of $73.10.

Accuray Inc. gained 14.14% following the announcement that the company’s Synchrony RealTime Adaptive Technology for the Radixact System won the Best Overall Medical Device Solution from the MedTech Breakthrough Award Program.

Raytheon Technologies’ surprise first quarter earnings of $1.78, which represented a 60.36% upside surprise, led to the stock’s 13.79% gain. 

Zacks Research increased its assessment of Faro Technology to a #1 Strong Buy which bumped the stock by 12.61%.

Surprising first quarter earnings of $.04 versus a consensus of a nineteen-cent loss pushed Oceaneering International’s stock up 11.89%. The company also announced its revenues rose from $536.67 million from $494 million last year’s first quarter.

Textron rounded out the top performers with its 11.20% return. With Raytheon’s earnings and an analyst upgrade of the aerospace industry, the low multiple of Textron was assisted as it moved in sympathy with the industry’s experience.

The only negative stock was NIO Ltd. whose 3% decline was attributed to increased pressure on Chinese companies that are listed on U.S. stock markets.

Drone Surveillance in Singapore:

An Israeli drone firm which we have previously discussed in the Bot Brief was recently granted the world’s first approval for aerial activities over a major city. As a completely automatic unmanned aerial system, the first of its kind in the global market, Airobotics enables governments and industrial companies to leverage the power of drones without the need for a human operator. Airobotics’ platform provides professionals with the ability to run missions automatically, to monitor, inspect, survey, and secure urban areas, as well as large industrial facilities.

HTX, a statutory board of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singapore, is using Airobotics’  drone technology to augment the Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) efforts in monitoring during this period to fly above a major industrial estate area to track anomalies such as congregations of people during the Circuit Breaker Period in Singapore. The technology complements police operations by using real-time aerial data broadcasted by Airobotics’ automated drone technology to accelerate the feedback process and help the SPF make better informed decisions. To support the drone operations, SJ Defence provides logistics management, operations coordination and ground safety observers.

While this seems like ‘big brother’ monitoring personal activities, it should be noted that Singapore has very stringent regulations regarding its efforts to maintain a safe environment as a result of the pandemic. The use of drones simply enhances the government’s ability to enforce its regulations.

Member: American Economic Association, Society of Professional Journalists, United States Press Association. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Robotic Industries Association, Member IEEE.

The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any companies that may from time to time be featured and its commentaries, analysis, opinions and research represent the subjective views of Balcones Investment Research, LLC. Due to the complex and rapidly changing nature of the subject matter, the company makes no assurances as to the absolute accuracy of material presented.