Weekly Bot Brief on Robotic Research and Investment Review 3-29-2019

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

Bot Index Highlights:
A strong market surge toward the end of the week helped the S & P 500 to set a record for the first quarter of any year since 1998. The index jumped 13.10%, however as good as that number appears, it pales in comparison to the 21.26% increase in the Bot Index. The best of the bots for the first quarter included several significant movers. The index components whose performance exceeded 40% included the low-priced issues Ekso Bionics (+91.6%) and Cyberdyne Inc. (+48.72%) together with iRobot (42.71%). The components that bettered the 30% mark were NVIDIA, Cognex, Accuray Inc. and Oceaneering International. By far the poorest performer for the quarter was the Chinese electric auto manufacturer NIO Inc. whose financial fortunes fell some 21%.

For the week, however, the bots were led by the 6.31% surge in Immersion Corp. The company is still benefitting from its seven cent earnings performance over analyst expectations for the most recent quarter and a beat during the prior financial period. Ekso Bionics rose 5.46% while Teledyne gained 4.13% after it gathered a $20 million contract for work on the Lockheed Martin F-35 strike fighter jet.

On the weaker side of the Bot Index, ten components had negative returns for the week Leading the worst performers were two Asian companies. NIO Inc. fell 9.25% as two shareholder rights litigation firms sought class action judgements against the firm for misleading information. Hiwin Technologies declined 4.10% as it continues to perform in a volatile fashion.

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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