Agility Robotics is about to pour a bucket of cold water on Wall Street’s humanoid robot frenzy.
This Oregon-based startup, whose bipedal robots can carry heavy loads and sort goods in factories and warehouses, is expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on Thursday, becoming the first U.S. publicly listed company focused on humanoid robots. Its financial disclosures reveal that the industry still has a long way to go before robotics becomes a profitable business.
According to the merged documents, Agility generated only $1.8 million in revenue last year and incurred a net loss of $138.1 million. More than half of its revenue came from five robots purchased by a single investor.
Agility went public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special purpose acquisition company led by former Citigroup executive Michael Klein, and the transaction was completed on Wednesday. The combined company is expected to begin trading under the ticker AGLT on Thursday.
Agility's CEO Peggy Johnson told Business Insider: "There's always value in being first. We'll be able to establish many metrics, if you will, to define customer demand for humanoid robots." Johnson previously led Magic Leap and has held positions at Microsoft and Qualcomm.
The merger values Agility's existing equity at approximately $2.5 billion. The company expects to receive total gross proceeds of approximately $465 million before expenses, including the $100 million already received.
SPAC mergers were highly popular in 2020 and 2021 but quickly cooled off as interest rates rose in 2022. With the IPO market rebounding, these transactions are once again attracting attention. Johnson said Agility chose this path to bring in Klein, a well-known SPAC sponsor who helped take Oklo, a nuclear power company backed by Sam Altman, and electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid public.
George Chowdhury, Chief Analyst at ABI Research, told Business Insider: “Agility is unique in the industry because they have actually deployed products. Overall, these deployments are still small in scale, but they are significant for commercializing humanoid robots.”
Agility has deployed its humanoid robot Digit to nine customer sites, including facilities operated by Amazon, Toyota, and logistics company GXO. Its investors include Amazon, Foxconn, NVIDIA, SoftBank, and Silicon Valley venture capital firm DCVC.
Agility's losses are not just paper numbers. Documents show that of its $138.1 million net loss, approximately $38 million came from non-cash expenses related to employee stock awards; meanwhile, the company used $99.8 million in cash in 2025 to sustain operations. Even before accounting for research and development and other corporate expenses, Agility's sales resulted in a $2.7 million loss.
The company stated in its SEC filing: "We expect to incur additional losses and higher operating expenses in the foreseeable future."
Michelle Sun, a robotic analyst and author of the Substack column Core Matter, told Business Insider: “There are many challenges in addressing unit economics.”
Agility is betting on its latest robot, Digit 5, to expand its business. Digit 5 is designed to work safely alongside humans without requiring the safety barriers needed by earlier versions.
Company documents show that it has received orders totaling over $3 million from a single customer for 1,000 robots. The customer will pay for the use of these robots over a three-year period. However, these orders are contingent on Agility’s ability to deliver on time and provide the promised features.
Agility aims to deliver in the first half of 2027 and achieve general availability by the end of that year.
The company's public debut highlights a significant divergence in valuations among humanoid robotics companies.
Agility’s $2.5 billion valuation is lower than that of several private humanoid robotics competitors, including California-based Figure AI, valued at approximately $39 billion; Texas-based Apptronik, valued at approximately $5.5 billion; and Germany-based Neura Robotics, valued at approximately $7 billion. Tesla is also developing its own Optimus humanoid robot, but this project does not have a separate valuation.
Chowdhury said: "We're seeing a trend where companies that already have deployments and are shipping hardware today are being valued much lower than those betting on this future."
Sun said that Agility’s listing will provide a reference point for how public markets price a company that manufactures humanoid robots—a design that remains controversial among experts and investors.
As Agility goes public, Washington is tightening restrictions on foreign-made robots, potentially giving U.S. manufacturers an advantage. In July, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission banned new foreign-made “advanced robotic devices,” including humanoid robots, quadruped robots, and certain robotic vacuum cleaners. Agility produces Digit at its facility in Oregon.
Currently, the humanoid robot market is primarily dominated by Chinese companies, such as Unitree Robotics. Unitree Robotics went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange this summer with a market capitalization of approximately $40 billion. According to Omdia, Chinese robotics companies accounted for about 90% of global humanoid robot shipments last year.
Johnson told Business Insider: "It's a good thing for the United States to demonstrate strength in this area."