Dance The Roomba: iRobot's Sterling Second Quarter Has Pro Bullish On Domestic Robot Space

iRobot Corporation IRBT's stellar second quarter makes Loup Ventures' Andrew Murphy more bullish on a market that includes robots that clean your floors and cut your lawn.

Revenue for the second quarter of 2017 was $183.1 million, compared with $148.7 million for the second quarter of 2016. Revenue for the first half of 2017 was $351.6 million, compared with $279.5 million last year.

“We believe the domestic robot market, which includes robotic vacuums, mops, and lawnmowers, is one of the most promising sub-categories within the robotics space.” Murphy wrote in a note.

He said iRobot’s results leads to these takeaways:

Legacy Vacuum Companies Not A Big Threat

“It’s easier for a robotics company to build a vacuum than it is for a vacuum company to build a robot,” he wrote. “Although a Roomba vacuum cleaner may look simplistic on the outside, the advanced software programming, computer vision systems and engineering acumen that goes into developing a high-performing robot is difficult to replicate.”

Related Link: Cornell’s Eccentric Robot Genius Gets Ideas From Infant Daughter

The Market Is Bigger Than Anybody Thought

“iRobot’s total robot revenues increased 24.2% y/y and the company raised full year 2017 guidance, which now implies 25.0% y/y growth in their robot business.”

It’s Not Just Vacuums

IRobots wet floor mops were up 80 percent. “And domestic robots is just the beginning of the much larger connected home theme.”

Domestic Robots Are A Global Trend

“While iRobot saw the strongest growth for robots domestically, the company is also upbeat about the growth they are seeing internationally.”

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Image Credit: By Nohau - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons