Robot Reviews

The consumer market and military segment are continuing to deliver for robotics giant iRobot Corporation.
The company revealed last Thursday its second quarter financial results for the year 2010 and the figures were more than satisfactory.
 
Riding on a surge in international demand for its consumer robots Roomba and Scooba, iRobot's revenue for the past quarter was an impressive $98 million – a 59% jump from the $61 million it earned for the same quarter last year. That's a net income of $5.3 million or 20 cents per share, versus a loss of $2.6 million or 10 cents per share only a year ago.
 
iRobot delivered roughly about 294,000 home robots last quarter, accounting for $52.9 million in sales and a growth of 55%.
 
On the other hand, sales for industrial and military robots increased 65% to $44.9 million. For the second quarter of 2010, the company dispatched 138 PackBot robots and 100 Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles.
 
According to Colin Angle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iRobot Corp., the company's performance in revenue, earnings per share, and Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) significantly trumped estimates.
 
"As a result of outstanding performance by both divisions in the second quarter and good visibility for the rest of 2010, we are increasing our full-year financial expectations," he said.
 
The company is now estimating a net income of 51 cents to 54 cents per share for the whole of 2010, exceeding analysts projected income of 44 cents per share.
 
While shares of the company dropped by 93 cents (4.5%) to close at $19.41 Thursday, they made a recovery in the extended trading by $2.59 (13.3%) surging to $22. Over the past 12 months, iRobot stock has ranged from $10.21 to $22.05.