Move Over, Tesla: This Robotics Stock Already Has Paying Customers
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) hasn't released its Optimus humanoid robot commercially, but the hype surrounding it remains high. In fact, recent news about supplier audits in China suggests that a massive ramp-up in Optimus production could begin later this year.
While Tesla's Optimus catalyst gets closer, consider that there's already a company in the robotics field generating material revenue from customers. Maybe Tesla shouldn't be the sole wager among robotics stocks .
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Tesla may hope to make money from robotics one day, but Symbotic (NASDAQ: SYM) is already doing so. Symbotic is not in the business of building and selling humanoid robots. Rather, the Wilmington, Massachusetts, company focuses on developing automated warehouse systems. With strategic partner Walmart serving as its main customer, Symbotic generated over $2.2 billion in revenue during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 27, 2025.
This fiscal year, analyst estimates call for sales of around $2.8 billion, a nearly 25% increase. Symbotic's backlog is climbing as well. As disclosed in the company's latest quarterly earnings release, its backlog currently totals $22.5 billion.
Symbotic remains highly reliant on Walmart. Not only is the retailer Symbotic's largest customer, making up 85% of fiscal year 2025 sales, but Walmart also previously sold its own robotics business to Symbotic in 2025, and the lion's share of Symbotic's pipeline is Walmart-related.
Alongside this lack of customer diversification, Symbotic has experienced slowing sales growth. With this, Symbotic, once a top robotics stock, has seen its stock price fall about 27% since the start of the year.
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Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Symbotic, Tesla, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
