Symbotic Reports Quarterly Results, Including $12B Warehouse Automation Order Backlog

Symbotic Inc. this week announced the financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 24, 2022. The Wilmington, Mass.-based warehouse automation provider posted revenue of $206.3 million, a net loss of $68 million, and an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) loss of $16.3 million.

In the same quarter of fiscal 2022, the company reported revenue of $77.1 million, a net loss of $23.1 million, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $21.3 million.

“Symbotic achieved triple-digit revenue growth and added to our base of outsourcing partners during the first quarter. We are optimistic about our outlook and are poised for continued strong growth," stated Rick Cohen, chairman and CEO of Symbotic. "Demand for our solutions continues to grow, and our backlog increased to $12.0 billion in the quarter.”

Symbotic deploys robots for Walmart

Symbotic said it applies robots, high-density storage, machine vision, and machine learning to solve complex distribution challenges and "reimagine" the supply chain. The company claimed that its combination of artificial intelligence and automation "enables companies to move goods with unmatched speed, agility, accuracy, and efficiency."

In addition, Symbotic said it "transforms" warehouses into strategic assets for the world's largest retail, wholesale, and food and beverage companies.

In May 2022, it announced that Walmart was expanding deployment of its systems to 42 regional distribution centers. In July, Symbotic and Walmart added that they were deploying automation to 25 distribution centers.

SPAC merger coincides with 3x growth

In June 2022, Symbotic announced the completion of a merger with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) SVF Investment Corp. 3. That SPAC was sponsored by an affiliate of SoftBank Investment Advisors (SBIA), and Symbotic began publicly trading its stock.

“In addition to our 168% annual revenue growth, gross margin improved and operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation, declined sequentially,” said Tom Ernst, chief financial officer of Symbotic.

“We initiated a record six system deployments during the first quarter as we continue to rapidly scale operations and deliver for our customers," he added. "Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities on hand increased by $94.1 million from the prior quarter to $447.5 million, leaving us well capitalized to execute our growth strategy.”

For the second quarter of fiscal 2023, Symbotic said it expects revenue of $205 million to $230 million, more than double the second-quarter fiscal 2022 revenue. The company also predicted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $13 million to $17 million, compared with a $26.2 million adjusted EBITDA loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

Symbotic is not providing guidance for net loss, which is the most comparable GAAP (generally accepted accounting procedures) financial measure to adjusted EBITDA. It said this is because information reconciling forward-looking adjusted EBITDA to net loss is unavailable without unreasonable effort.

The company added that it is not able to provide reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA to GAAP financial measures because certain items required for such reconciliations are outside of its control and cannot be reasonably predicted, such as the provision for stock-based compensation.