Symbotic NASDAQ: SYM executives highlighted stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results, ongoing system deployment growth, and continued profitability during the company’s second quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call. Management also discussed progress on new products, customer interest in expanded automation capabilities, and plans to broaden Symbotic’s role across supply chains.
Quarterly results top guidance, profitability continues
Chief Financial Officer Izzy Martins said fiscal second-quarter revenue was $676 million, which he noted was “above the high end of our forecasted range.” Symbotic posted GAAP net income of $9 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $78 million, which Martins said was also above the top end of the company’s forecast due to higher revenue and strong gross margin performance.
Martins attributed revenue growth to “the continued expansion in the number of systems in deployment and the growth of operational systems that generate recurring revenue.” He said the company started 14 new system deployments in the quarter, bringing total systems in deployment to 70 at quarter-end.
Systems revenue grew to $634 million, up 24% year-over-year and 8% sequentially, which Martins tied to the increase in deployments. Symbotic had one system go operational during the quarter: an Atlanta-area site for Exal. Martins said the project’s “install start to acceptance was accomplished in under 10 months,” ahead of Symbotic’s historical installation timelines.
Software revenue rose 93% year-over-year to $13 million, including about $1 million from what Martins described as a non-recurring adjustment. Excluding that adjustment, he said software growth “remained above 75% year-over-year.” Operations services revenue was $29 million, slightly down year-over-year due to a difficult comparison in training revenue, but up slightly sequentially as operational systems increased.
Gross margin expanded sequentially and year-over-year, which Martins attributed to “strong project execution, cost discipline, and scale benefits.” GAAP operating expenses were $144 million, while adjusted operating expenses were $88 million, both up sequentially as the company invested in growth initiatives.
Backlog, cash, and free cash flow
Martins reported backlog of $22.7 billion, up from $22.3 billion in the prior quarter. He said the increase “primarily reflects final pricing adjustments on projects started in the quarter and the addition of one system for AWG, offset by revenue recognized in the quarter.” In response to questions on backlog movement, Martins described Symbotic’s backlog as “quite conservative” historically and said the quarter’s net math implied “call it a, $1 billion of incremental backlog when you take out the amount of revenue that we've recorded in the actual quarter.”
Symbotic ended the quarter with $2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, up from $1.8 billion in fiscal first quarter. Martins said the increase was driven by $218 million of free cash flow.
Chief Executive Officer Rick Cohen emphasized balance sheet strength, saying the company exited the quarter with “over $2 billion in cash and cash equivalents and no debt.”
Customer momentum and deployments: AWG and Exal site tours
Cohen said Symbotic began its first system deployment with Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), which he described as “the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets.” Cohen noted AWG operates “over 9 million sq ft of warehouse space and distributes to over 3,500 retail locations.”
Asked about the potential with AWG, Martins said Symbotic’s approach is to start with one system and expand over time, adding that it “will take us a couple of years” to build the first system successfully. He also noted that unlike some larger customers, AWG-related backlog would likely come “one system at a time.” Cohen later added that the AWG project does not require custom engineering, saying grocery is “kind of our bread and butter.”
On the Atlanta Exal site, Cohen told analysts Symbotic is now giving tours and expects to announce initial customers for the site “pretty quickly.” Cohen also explained that the Atlanta site benefited from being a greenfield installation, whereas some earlier projects required work inside existing facilities. He added Symbotic is installing a new structure at two sites that “will be faster.”
Technology roadmap: e-commerce, new bots, batteries, APD, and BreakPak
Cohen said a key theme from customer conversations—especially at the MODEX trade show—was that existing customers want Symbotic to “do more for them” as system performance and the product portfolio have improved. He described Symbotic’s strategy as taking its “core system architecture and layer on capabilities that allow customers to automate their supply chain fully end-to-end,” comparing it to an operating system with added apps. Cohen cited expansion into e-commerce and dock management as examples.
On the e-commerce side, Cohen said Symbotic continued progress on its SymMicro product and remains on track to install the first prototypes “this calendar year.” He also discussed investments aimed at improving bot performance, including work with Nyobolt on next-generation battery technology and deploying a larger SymBot to handle a wider variety of SKUs or retrieve multiple cases at once.
In Q&A, Cohen said Symbotic invested in Nyobolt early and believes its battery chemistry is applicable to Symbotic’s fleet. Cohen said the new technology can deliver “five times as long” energy from a single charge compared with what the company gets from charges on current bots, which he said could enable longer trips and improved reliability. He also said bots are being retrofitted with lidar and Nyobolt batteries.
Cohen discussed the company’s APD efforts, stating Symbotic expects to have its first two prototypes “up and running in the next 6 months,” and said a small working prototype can be seen at the company’s ITC. He added Symbotic has upgraded 19 sites acquired through the Walmart Robotics transaction and now has “a bot working in a freezer,” with additional freezer testing underway “with no showstoppers.” Cohen said perishables require fewer changes, though the company made upgrades to address moisture, and he expects Symbotic to “begin thinking about a frozen and perishable prototype” within the next year.
On BreakPak, Cohen said Symbotic built an original system in Brooksville and has an upgraded BreakPak system next to it. He said the upgraded system includes newly designed bots that will have Nyobolt batteries and lidar and can do “twice as much work” as older bots in the same time. Cohen also said Walmart ordered “40 of these at every site” and described BreakPak as a smaller-scale application that could fit use cases like convenience stores and serve as an interim step between a large system and e-commerce fulfillment.
Cohen also discussed what he called a “stretch bot,” designed to handle larger items than the company’s original bot design. He said Symbotic now has “hundreds of those running around” in sites alongside smaller bots, and that the stretch bot helps cover an additional “2% or 3%” of products that matter to customers.
Outlook: third-quarter guidance and margin commentary
For fiscal third quarter 2026, Martins guided to revenue of $700 million to $720 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $80 million to $85 million.
On margins, Martins told analysts the company expects near-term stabilization, while reiterating longer-term expectations tied to the mix shift toward next-generation storage structure installations. He said that once the majority of installations reflect the next-generation structure, Symbotic expects to unlock a path toward “30-plus” longer-term systems margins.
Martins also said Symbotic intends to maintain flexibility to invest in R&D, noting the company’s cash position allows it to allocate capital if it sees areas worth investing in.
About Symbotic NASDAQ: SYM
Symbotic Inc NASDAQ: SYM is a provider of advanced warehouse automation and robotics systems designed to improve throughput, space utilization and labor productivity in distribution centers and fulfillment operations. The company develops integrated hardware and software solutions that automate the storage, retrieval, sorting and palletizing of goods, positioning itself as a systems integrator for material handling challenges faced by large-scale retailers, wholesalers and third-party logistics providers.
Products and services typically include autonomous robotic vehicles and shuttle systems, automated storage-and-retrieval equipment, robotic picking and palletizing cells, conveyors and sortation, together with control and management software that coordinates fleet operations and inventory flow.
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