What Happened to the Warehouse Robotics Opportunity?

When the CEO of NVIDIA talks, people listen. Jensen Huang says the three areas of robotics to watch are humanoids, autonomous cars, and agentic AI (it’s actually software, not hardware). As for autonomous cars, they’re just starting to emerge, while investing in humanoids isn’t accessible to retail investors right now. In the meantime, other robotics themes to watch include surgical robotics and warehouse automation which both offer numerous ways for retail investors to get exposure.

We invested in AutoStore (AUTO OL) as a pure-play way to get exposure to the latter – what’s been described as a $100 billion opportunity. Unfortunately, growth hasn’t matched that story lately with 2024 revenues declining 4% year-over-year. Quarterly revenues paint an even worse picture.

With management no longer providing guidance, we’re left wondering what lies ahead for a company that no longer appears to be growing.

What’s Going on With Warehouse Robotics?

A recent thought piece by McKinsey poses some really good questions.

The technology is mature, the promised benefits are significant, yet