Robotic Growth

One of the staples of sci-fi stories is robots. A key company helping make everyday robotics a reality, and managing to put up some substantial growth numbers while it does so, is iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT). Its recent third-quarter results, for example, featured 22 percent yearover-year revenue growth.

iRobot is the current market leader in the emerging consumer robot industry, with more than 20 million robots sold worldwide. (The company sells its products in the U.S., Japan, and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).)

Though iRobot offers a variety of robots that do everything from clean your gutters and pool to mop your floor, the bulk of its revenue still comes from its Roomba robotic vacuums. In a recent interview with MIT Technology Review, iRobot co-founder and CEO Colin Angle noted that his company has “talked about lawn mowing, laundry folding, loading and emptying dishwashers, and bathroom cleaning as things of interest to us,” adding that robots will “eventually handle all of this routine maintenance.”

Market penetration of consumer vacuum robots is growing, but it’s still quite low in the U.S. and is even lower abroad. This leaves iRobot plenty of room to grow — and generate big returns for shareholders. With its long history of growth, profitability and innovation, iRobot is a must-consider growth stock. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and has recommended iRobot.)