Robot Reviews

Not only is iRobot the creator of the wildly popular and successful Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, it's also one of the most watched tech stocks in financial circles. At least, according to The Motley Fool it is.

Indeed, iRobot has had a good year despite a down time for many companies in the robotics industry. True, its year-on-year earnings and revenue may be down, but it came out strong with 3rd quarter profits that were better than expected. They also go on to mention that iRobot's stock is up 22.3% over the past 4 weeks.

In addition to its Roomba line of robotic vacuums, iRobot has fast evolved into a manufacturer of military-grade robots that are critical to sophisticated and dangerous military operations. So, despite home robots weak domestic sales in the last quarter, international orders jumped by 55%. The US government is one of its biggest clients, with its consistent demand for government and industrial robots.

The Fool also attributes iRobot's excellent showing to the potential of its unmanned Packbot robots, which are assisting US ground troops by helping clear caves and bunkers, searching buildings, and crossing live anti-personnel minefields. About 88% of the members of the Motley Fool CAPS community who rated (more than 1,000 of them) anticipate iRobot to beat the market.

The other stocks that round out the list to beat the downward trend are Universal Insurance, Xiao Qing Mobile Communication, Netflix, and Corcept Therapeutics.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/11/09/5-stocks-bucking-the-downtrend.aspx