iRobot CEO On Price Action After Earnings, Future Demand, Tariffs

On CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” iRobot IRBT CEO Colin Angle said the price action following third-quarter earnings on Tuesday is a little disappointing.

He believes the company executed well and said they're looking at a very strong fourth quarter. He said the negative price action could be profit-taking, but iRobot has a lot of momentum behind them moving into the fourth quarter and next year.

He thinks there's still a lot of people that need the company's products and said the penetration rate in the household marketplace is just around 10%, and he believes there's still a lot of space for iRobot to go. 

He believes that the acceleration in demand of iRobot products started as people began working from home but turned into a reevaluation of how many people choose to work from home — and the rise of importance of the home as a workplace.

When asked how reliant the company is on big retailers, Angle said making the robots more personable is allowing them to transact directly with its customers, which grew 155% in the third quarter.

He said the company sees it as a major value driver for the stock going forward and will make customers stay with the company for a while.

Angle said moving into Malaysia slowed because of the pandemic. The company will not be fully moved to Malaysia until the end of 2021. He said tariffs will cause some margin headwinds next year.

Photo courtesy of iRobot.