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The Bot Brief
POSTED 07/07/2024
"There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come."
- Victor Hugo
Bots in the News:
In the past few trading sessions, please view
the notable narrowing of the gap between the Bot Index and the broad market as depicted during the 2020’s. The performance of the Bots has stagnated since July 2023 while the S & P 500 has noted a steady increase. The prevailing theme of investor excitement has recently centered on the AI champions. This has created a shift in the fortunes of the Magnificent Seven as some have emerged and others faltered. Other automation stocks outside the AI ‘aura’ have been ignored by fast-track investors.
During the past week, the Bot Index gained 1.72%, well below the 1.95% increase in the S & P 500. This represents six straight weeks where the broad market beat the Bot Index.
There were three companies whose stock declines contributed to the underperformance of the bots. AeroVironment was the worst performer with a 7.27% tumble. The drone company reported a 57% slide in earnings over the prior year. Even more notable was the backlog report of $400.2 million which noted a decay from 2023’s $424.1 million.
A new CEO failed to incite investors of iRobot Corp. The fortunes of the vacuum manufacturer have deteriorated following the failure of last year’s anticipated merger. The stock fell another 5.27%.
Finally, Rockwell Automation declined 4.07% in something of a ‘give back’ following the prior week’s trading pattern. Friday of the prior week saw a massive 4,325,900 share trade, pushing the stock up from $267.66 to $275.28.
Tesla reported deliveries of 443,956 vehicles in the second quarter, up from 386,810 in the first quarter. The results allowed the company to regain the title of the largest producer of EV’s in the world. In addition, Elon Musk hinted about an announcement regarding robotaxis on August 8th. Much like the impact that UBER and AirBNB did for non-traditional business plans had for the car rental and lodging industries, the prospect of driverless taxis could have similar impact.