IRobot shares up after company reports boom in home robot sales

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IRobot saw revenue rise, boosted by sales of its home robots.

David Harris

Tech Editor- Boston Business Journal

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Shares of Bedford-based iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT) were up 17 percent Wednesday after the company reported stronger-than-expected revenue for the third quarter this year as sales of its home robots exceeded forecasts.

The company reported Tuesday that sales for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 27, were $143.5 million, compared with $124.5 million for the same quarter one year ago. Analysts were expecting revenue of $134.3 million for the quarter. Net income in the quarter was $14.6 million, compared with $7.8 million in the third quarter of 2013.

IRobot CEO Colin Angle said in an earnings call Wednesday that during the quarter the company launched one of its newer vacuum robots, the Roomba 800, in China and said international home-robot revenue grew 13 percent year-over-year in the third quarter.

Angle also addressed the looming competition in the robot vacuum market. In September, Dyson said it would launch its own robot vacuum cleaner next year. The British company said it spent 16 years and $47 million on research and development on the vacuum.

"We spend more than that on robot R&D annually, building products developed with feedback from the millions of customers to whom we've sold Roombas over the past 12 years," said Angle.

IRobot also recorded revenue of $11 million for its defense and security robots in the third quarter, up slightly year-over-year and ahead of expectations.

Angle also said the company had sold eight of its telepresence robots to AT&T. The robots allow people to attend conferences and events without physically being present, through a self-driven robot with video capability. Additional robot trials are being conducted with a multinational law firm, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and financial services companies to enable remote collaboration, customer service and executive management, Angle said.

Shares of iRobot were $37.24 as of 10 a.m. Wednesday.