I’ve been writing about personal finance since the early ’90s and investing in stocks since the early ’80s.
One thing I’ve learned: You can’t stop the future, but you can prepare for and profit from it.
Perfect example: These days, we’re seeing headlines about retail recessions and warehouse automation replacing human workers. I recently read a report predicting that the global robotics market could jump from around $65 billion today to over $375 billion by 2035.
That’s terrifying if you’re a factory worker. But if you’re an investor, it’s the kind of trend that could make you a ton of money.
In short, if you can’t beat the robots, buy them.
Of course, Wall Street knows this too. The hype machine is in full swing, and if you’re not careful, you could end up buying the 2026 equivalent of Pets.com.
Here’s how I’m looking at the robotics revolution, and how you can get a piece of the action without losing your shirt. But before we begin, remember that this isn’t investment advice. I’m just telling what I’m thinking, not telling you what to do.
The difference between a cool demo and a good business
Every time I turn on the news, I see a video of a humanoid robot doing a backflip or folding laundry. It looks amazing. It also distracts you from the boring truth about making money.
A report from Morgan Stanley recently hit the nail on the head regarding “embodied AI”: There’s a massive gap between a robot that can dance and a robot that can do useful work at scale in the real world.
When you’re researching investments, you need to ignore the sci-fi stuff and look for the “boring” robots. I’m talking about the unsexy machines that are already working in Amazon warehouses, painting cars in Detroit, or assisting surgeons in the operating room.
These companies have actual revenue, not just cool YouTube videos.
Don’t try to pick the winner
In the late ’90s, everyone knew the internet was going to be huge. But for every Amazon, there were a hundred companies that went to zero.
The robotics sector right now feels exactly the same. In China alone, there are now over 200 companies building humanoid robots. Most of them won’t exist in five years.
That’s why I rarely buy individual stocks in a speculative industry. I prefer to buy the whole basket.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) allow you to own a slice of dozens of robotics companies at once. If one goes bust, it doesn’t wipe out your portfolio. If one becomes the next Tesla, you still capture some of that growth.
The funds I’m watching
There are a few major players in this space that do the heavy lifting for you.
1. The aggressive play:
You might have heard of the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ). This fund is actively managed, meaning there are humans picking the stocks rather than just following a computer algorithm. In 2025, this fund returned nearly 49%, crushing the market average.
However, remember that high reward comes with high risk. Active funds charge higher fees—this one is around 0.75%—and they can have terrible years just as easily as they have great ones.
2. The broad bet:
If you want something a bit more diversified, look at the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ). It holds companies involved in industrial robotics and automation, as well as the AI software that makes them run. It includes big, established names like NVIDIA and Intuitive Surgical.
3. The benchmark:
The ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO) is one of the oldest funds in the space. It tends to spread its money more evenly across small and large companies, rather than betting the farm on a few tech giants.
What about individual stocks?
As I said above, I rarely buy individual stocks in a speculative industry, especially one that’s in its early stages. But if you feel like taking the plunge on individual companies, here’s a little trick that you can use for any investment sector: Find ETFs that specialize in that sector, go to the ETF home pages and see what stocks are in the ETFs.
That way, you’ll see what specific stocks the professionals who assemble these ETFs are investing in.
For example, if you do a search for “Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ)” you’ll quickly find this page from the ETF’s sponsor. Along with information like performance and fees (always important), you’ll also find a list of all the individual companies in this ETF.
In this case, you’ll see the top holding is Nvidia (which I’ve owned for a few years now), followed by Fanuc Corp., ABB LTD, Intuitive Surgical, and many more.
Does that mean you should blindly buy what the ETF managers are buying? Nope. But if you’re a stock picker, a list of what they own is a good place to begin further research into these names.
The “picks and shovels” strategy
During the Gold Rush, the people who made the most consistent money weren’t the ones digging for gold. It was the people selling the shovels.
In robotics, the “shovels” are the components that every robot needs, regardless of which brand wins.
- Sensors and vision: Robots need to “see.” Companies that make lidar and machine vision cameras are essential.
- Semiconductors: You can’t have AI or automation without advanced chips.
- Motors and actuators: These are the muscles of the robot.
Many of the ETFs I mentioned above hold these types of companies. It’s a way to bet on the industry’s growth without having to guess which specific robot model will be the bestseller.
A warning before you buy
I want to be crystal clear: This is a volatile sector and profitability for many of these companies is years away.
If you’re close to retirement, or you need your money in the next three years, you have no business putting a large chunk of your cash into robotics stocks. They’ll swing wildly.
But if you have a long-term investment horizon and you want to hedge against the automation that might threaten your own job one day, putting 5% of your portfolio into this sector makes sense.
Just don’t get distracted by the dancing robots. Focus on the ones doing the work.