ReWalk Earnings Shine Spotlight on Robotics

Health and Healthcare

Published: November 13, 2014 1:15 pm

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 4:09 am

Exoskeleton maker ReWalk Robotics Ltd. (NASDAQ: RWLK) reported quarterly earnings Thursday morning for the first time since the company’s initial public offering in mid-September. The Israel-based company posted third-quarter sales of $1.5 million and an adjusted net loss of $1.34 per share, both a bit worse than analysts anticipated. At the noon hour, the stock traded up more than 10%.

ReWalk priced its IPO at $12 a share, below the expected range of $14 to $16, and hit an IPO-day high of $30. On its second day of trading, it posted its current high of $43.71.

The company designs and sells exoskeletons that give mobility-impaired patients the ability to walk. The company has developed its ReWalk exoskeleton using patented tilt-sensor technology and an on-board computer with motion sensors to drive motorized legs that literally walk for the user. The company’s two products include ReWalk Personal and ReWalk Rehabilitation.

During the quarter, ReWalk became the sole U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared, powered exoskeleton and the Veterans Administration has adopted a policy to provide payment for FDA-cleared, powered exoskeletons. Four German insurers have approved reimbursement for the company’s exoskeleton on a case-by-case basis, and ReWalk is the only approved provider.

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The Robo-Stox Global Robotics & Automation ETF (NASDAQ: ROBO) traded up about 0.5% Thursday, at $26.30 in a 52-week range of $23.80 to $ 28.42. ReWalk is not included among the fund’s holdings, but Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX), maker of robotic vision systems; iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), makers both Roomba home robot vacuum cleaners and defense/security robots; and Mazor Robotics Ltd. (NASDAQ: MZOR), maker of robotic medical devices, are among the fund’s holdings.

Other stocks in the robotics exchange traded fund include Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG), another medical robotics supplier; Faro Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO), which makes articulated electromechanical measuring devices; and 3D printing firms The ExOne Co. (NASDAQ: XONE) and Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS). Altogether the fund includes 96 equities and currencies, including firms like Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) and Teledyne Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TDY) that are not exclusively robotics related.

A new report by MarketsandMarkets estimates that the service robotics market, which includes many of the companies named here, will grow to a total of $19.41 billion by 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 21.5% between 2014 and 2020. There are echoes here of the rush a year or so ago that drove up share prices for 3D printing companies, only to see the shares fall back to earth after the initial euphoria. Robotics may strictly be a timing play — until it is not.

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