Robotics companies are at the forefront of innovation, driving efficiency and productivity across industries such as manufacturing, healthcare and logistics. The global robotics market is poised for significant growth, fueled by technological breakthroughs and rising demand for automation and advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
This potential for high growth promises substantial returns to investors. Also, robotics can address labor shortages and enhance precision in tasks, thereby reducing operational costs and improving quality. This space includes companies that integrate hardware, software and AI to build intelligent machines capable of performing complex tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously.
Pros and Cons of Robotics Application
Despite the space’s rapid growth and transformative potential, the investment landscape is not without risks. Robotics technology is still evolving, and companies in this space often face high research and development costs with no guaranteed success. Regulatory challenges, market volatility, concerns about job displacement and data privacy, along with the societal impact of automation, add to the uncertainty.
Buy 5 Robotics Stocks for the Balance of 2026
At this stage, we recommend five robotics stocks for investment in 2026. These are: Autodesk Inc. ADSK, Intuitive Surgical Inc. ISRG, Rockwell Automation Inc. ROK, Nordson Corp. NDSN and Teradyne Inc. TER. Each of our picks currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past month.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Autodesk Inc.
Autodesk benefits from a successful transition to a cloud-based subscription model, ensuring predictable recurring revenues, strong free cash flow and expanding operating margins. ADSK’s AI-driven innovation across AutoCAD, Revit and Fusion enhances productivity and strengthens customer dependency.
Autodesk is strategically embedding artificial intelligence capabilities throughout its product portfolio, positioning itself as an innovation leader while strengthening customer dependency on its platforms.
The integration of generative design, predictive analytics, and automated workflows powered by AI is transforming how architects, engineers, and designers work, delivering measurable productivity gains that justify premium pricing. These AI-enhanced features are increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate given Autodesk's massive proprietary dataset accumulated over decades.
Management guidance highlights accelerating adoption of AI-powered tools across AutoCAD, Revit, and Fusion platforms. This technological differentiation not only supports customer retention but also enables the company to capture greater wallet share as clients expand their software spending to access cutting-edge capabilities.
Autodesk has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 13% and 18.7%, respectively, for the current year (ending January 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 8% over the last 60 days.
Intuitive Surgical Inc.
Intuitive Surgical is increasingly embedding AI and digital tools into its robotic ecosystem. Case Insights, integrated into da Vinci 5, combines surgical video with force and motion data, enabling objective performance indicators for surgeons.
Early studies link such metrics to clinical outcomes, such as length of hospital stay in colorectal surgeries. These AI-enabled insights provide both training value for novice surgeons and real-time decision support for experts.
Additionally, ISRG is piloting telecollaboration through Intuitive Telepresence, allowing remote surgical support and education. Commercial scaling, workflow changes, and regulatory adjustments initiatives align ISRG with broader AI-driven healthcare transformation. Over time, digital and AI features may become significant differentiators, deepening the company’s clinical moat and expanding its revenue streams.
Intuitive Surgical has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 16.2% and 15.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 3.7% over the last seven days.
Rockwell Automation Inc.
Rockwell Automation is expected to benefit from its focus on productivity. Investments made by ROK across many end markets, coupled with higher automation and digital transformation, will support the company in the coming quarters.
ROK’s efforts to optimize its portfolio and price increase actions will drive growth and negate the headwinds from elevated costs, supply-chain issues and the challenging contraction in manufacturing activity in recent months. Recent acquisitions will boost ROK’s performance in the upcoming quarters.
Customers in life sciences, food and beverage, mining and many other end markets rely on ROK to provide robust network technology and real-time domain expertise to keep their critical operations secure and resilient.
Rockwell Automation has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 6% and 15.3%, respectively, for the current year (ending September 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days.
Nordson Corp.
Nordson is benefiting from steady demand in medical components and engineered fluid solutions. NDSN’s Advanced Technology Solutions segment is being lifted by strength across semiconductor-related electronics dispense and x-ray system product lines.
NDSN’s Industrial Precision Solutions segment has returned to modest organic growth as demand for polymer processing and automotive applications has stabilized. Management raised its full-year sales and adjusted earnings guidance after a record last quarter, supported by higher backlog and broad order momentum. Shareholder returns also remain supportive.
Nordson has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5.1% and 11.4%, respectively, for the current year (ending October 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.5% over the last 30 days.
Teradyne Inc.
Teradyne benefits from strong AI-related demand that is driving significant investments in cloud AI build-out as customers accelerate the production of a wide range of AI accelerators, networking, memory, and power devices. AI computing is witnessing technological progress, which is bringing rapid transformation to design, process, and packaging technologies.
This trend bodes well for TER’s long-term prospects. Strong demand for the UltraFLEXplus system, which is suitable for high-performance processors and networking devices, is noteworthy. TER’s robotics revenues increased for three consecutive quarters, driven by Physical AI and e-commerce applications. TER expects its large e-commerce customer to triple its revenue contribution in 2026.
Teradyne has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 34.4% and 57.1%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 2.5% over the last seven days.
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Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (ROK): Free Stock Analysis Report
Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK): Free Stock Analysis Report
Teradyne, Inc. (TER): Free Stock Analysis Report
Nordson Corporation (NDSN): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).