Symbotic Q3 Earnings Call Highlights
Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $721 million, up 22% from a year earlier and 7% sequentially, as the warehouse automation company expanded system deployments and grew recurring revenue from operational systems.
GAAP net income was $55 million, compared with a net loss of $21 million in the fiscal third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled year over year to $95 million, exceeding the company’s forecast range. Chief Financial Officer Izzy Martins said the result reflected expanding margins, project execution, cost discipline, benefits from scale and operating leverage.
“We delivered strong third quarter results, highlighted by continued revenue growth and expanding margins,” Founder, Chairman and CEO Rick Cohen said. He said the company remained on track to meet the objectives it established at the start of the fiscal year, including broadening customer opportunities, improving profitability and investing in product development.
Deployments, Operational Systems and Backlog
Symbotic started 11 new system deployments during the quarter, including a second site for Southern Glazer’s Wine Spirits, bringing total systems in deployment to 77 at quarter-end. The company also brought four systems into operation, increasing its total operational systems to 56.
Systems revenue rose 20% year over year and 6% sequentially to $671 million. Software revenue increased 57% to $13 million, while operations services revenue rose 49% to $37 million.
Southern Glazer’s signed for its second facility following the performance of its first site, Cohen said. The second project will not use Symbotic’s newest storage structure because the design process was already underway and the beverage distributor’s more standardized case sizes made the older structure suitable, according to Cohen. He said later Southern Glazer’s sites could use the newer structure.
The company ended the quarter with backlog of $22.5 billion, slightly below the prior quarter. Martins said the change primarily reflected revenue recognized during the quarter, pricing adjustments for projects begun in the period and the addition of the Southern Glazer’s site. The backlog does not include the potential contract for 400 back-of-store systems with Walmart, she said.
Cash and cash equivalents were $1.7 billion at quarter-end, down from $2 billion in the prior quarter. Martins attributed the decrease primarily to the timing of cash receipts associated with project starts and cash use for project activity. She said the company expects positive free cash flow in the fiscal fourth quarter and on an annual basis.
Walmart Initiatives and Product Development
Cohen said Symbotic’s BreakPack product, designed to handle individual items, has begun deployment at half of Walmart’s regional distribution centers. The company also started installing its first newer-version SymMicro e-commerce fulfillment system at the back of a Walmart store.
Symbotic has 19 older versions of the system in operation, Cohen said. The new installation is expected to take about six months, followed shortly by a second site. He said the second version is expected to provide the basis for Walmart to decide whether to proceed with a larger rollout.
Martins said she does not expect the potential back-of-store order referenced in the Walmart contract to begin affecting results until early 2028. She said the back-of-store business would be more profitable and that installations of the next-generation storage system are expected to become a more significant margin driver in the second half of the following fiscal year.
Symbotic is also evaluating automation for perishable goods. Cohen said the company has received substantial interest in that category and expects to begin building and testing its first prototypes within approximately six months.
The company said it deployed more than 1,000 larger SymBots during the calendar year to accommodate a broader set of stock-keeping units. It is also rolling out LiDAR, enhanced camera systems, Nyobolt batteries and other upgrades intended to improve system efficiency and performance.
Acquisitions and Exol Progress
Symbotic completed two tuck-in technology acquisitions: Fox Robotics, which provides dock automation, and ARMS Innovations, which offers warehouse operations optimization software. Cohen said ARMS software is being integrated with Symbotic’s operating system and will be offered as a software add-on to Symbotic customers, including Exol customers.
He said the ARMS platform could help identify maintenance issues, locate equipment and inventory, direct workers to needed repairs and identify required parts. Pricing is expected to be based on the value it creates for customers, Cohen said.
On Fox Robotics, Cohen said customers have responded positively to the acquisition and that Symbotic is discussing future product needs with larger Fox customers. He said the company sees opportunities to offer dock management systems that combine Fox equipment, ARMS software and other software capabilities.
Exol’s Atlanta facility is live and receiving product from its first customer, though Cohen said the customer did not want to be identified. The Atlanta operation is designed as a multi-customer site. In Lathrop, California, Exol’s C site has completed its Symbotic system installation and is expected to go live within 60 to 90 days, Cohen said.
Fourth-Quarter Outlook
For fiscal fourth-quarter 2026, Symbotic forecast revenue of $760 million to $780 million and adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $105 million.
Martins said the company expects fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA margin to be roughly flat sequentially, reflecting a modest anticipated increase in operating expenses and expectations for gross margins to be closer to the company’s second-quarter level. She said research and development spending was flat sequentially in the third quarter but is expected to increase modestly in the fourth quarter and subsequent periods as the company continues product development.
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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