WILMINGTON, Mass., May 7, 2026, 12:04 EDT
Symbotic Inc. shares fell Thursday, trading around $59.78—off roughly 2.3%—after the warehouse robotics maker reported a $9 million net profit and $676 million in revenue for its fiscal second quarter, which ended March 28. Symbotic left its $22.7 billion backlog unchanged and projected increased revenue for the current quarter.
Why does it matter? Investors aren’t just paying for top-line expansion here. Symbotic’s pitch revolves around AI-powered warehouse robots—machines that rely on software to orchestrate the flow of goods inside distribution centers. The company’s future depends on converting those big, multi-year system deployments into a more reliable stream of profit.
It’s a well-timed message. Symbotic told investors that e-commerce is complicating distribution, pushing retailers to juggle everything—single items, cases, pallets—across multiple sales channels at once. Automation demand stays strong as a result, but execution risks are climbing, too.
Symbotic Inc. posted a 23% revenue jump to $549.7 million, up from last year’s tally. Net income swung to a profit, erasing the previous $9.9 million loss. Gross profit landed at roughly $150 million. Operating income came in at $6.1 million, flipping from a $20.5 million operating loss, as detailed in the quarterly filing.
Adjusted EBITDA, which the company calculates by excluding interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation, climbed to $77.8 million from $34.7 million a year ago. The filing also put free cash flow at $218 million for the quarter.
Chairman and CEO Rick Cohen credited the quarter to “strong execution against our key objectives.” CFO Izzy Martins pointed to “growth and margin expansion,” noting that the number of total systems in deployment climbed to 70. Symbotic Inc.
Systems revenue—the main driver—jumped 24% to $634.5 million, with Symbotic counting 70 systems in deployment compared to 46 last year. Software maintenance and support brought in $12.9 million, up 93%. But operations services revenue edged down 2% to $29.1 million.
Symbotic is projecting third-quarter revenue in the range of $700 million to $720 million, with adjusted EBITDA seen landing between $80 million and $85 million. These numbers hinge heavily on how installation timelines play out, given that a large slice of Symbotic’s revenue depends on progress made on system builds.
The backlog’s still the headline figure. Symbotic’s filing listed $22.7 billion in remaining performance obligations as of March 28. Roughly 14% of that is slated to turn into revenue within a year, and about 61% over the next 13 to 60 months.
Associated Wholesale Grocers marks a fresh example of Symbotic’s customer expansion. On the call, Cohen said the company had kicked off its first system rollout at AWG. But Martins flagged that, as with any new client, adding to the backlog would be a gradual process—“one system at a time.” The Motley Fool
Symbotic’s annual filing points straight to heavyweight automation rivals: Honeywell, Dematic, AutoStore. The company also cites in-house engineering teams as competitors, highlighting the tight race in retail distribution and micro-fulfillment—the compact warehouses designed to push online orders out faster to nearby shoppers.
Concentration stands out as the key risk here. According to the 10-Q, a single customer brought in 84.5% of revenue for the quarter and made up 68.7% of accounts receivable. The filing flagged that if this customer pulls back or drops out entirely, results could take a material hit.
Symbotic’s earnings are less messy than last year—net income in the black, software sales picking up speed, and more systems out in the field. Still, the stock slid. Investors aren’t convinced yet; they want to see backlog turning into actual revenue, minus slowdowns, margin squeeze, or another round of customer-concentration worries.
