Agility Robotics is about to give Wall Street a reality check on the humanoid robot boom.
The Oregon startup, whose two-legged robots carry heavy materials and sort goods in factories and warehouses, is expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on Thursday, becoming the first humanoid-focused company to go public in the US. Its financial disclosures show just how far the industry still has to go before robots become a profitable business.
Agility brought in just $1.8 million in revenue last year while reporting a $138.1 million net loss, according to its merger filings. More than half its revenue came from five robots purchased by one of its investors.
Agility is going public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by former Citigroup executive Michael Klein, which was completed Wednesday. The combined company is expected to begin trading under the ticker AGLT when the market opens Thursday.
“There’s something to be said for being first,” Agility CEO Peggy Johnson, who previously led Magic Leap and held roles at Microsoft and Qualcomm, told Business Insider. “We will be able to set many of the metrics, if you will, on what customers need in a humanoid.”
The merger valued Agility’s existing equity at about $2.5 billion. The company expects about $465 million in gross capital before expenses, including $100 million already received.
SPAC mergers boomed in 2020 and 2021, before collapsing as interest rates rose in 2022. They are drawing renewed interest as the IPO market recovers. Johnson said Agility chose the route to bring in Klein, a prolific SPAC sponsor known for helping take Sam Altman-backed nuclear power company Oklo and electric vehicle maker Lucid public.
“Agility is unique to the industry because they’re actually deployed,” George Chowdhury, a principal analyst at ABI Research, told Business Insider. “In the grand scheme of things, the deployments are very small, but it’s big for commercial humanoids.”
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Agility has deployed Digit, its humanoid robot, across nine customer facilities, including those belonging to Amazon, Toyota, and the logistics company GXO. Its investors include Amazon, Foxconn, Nvidia, SoftBank, and Silicon Valley venture firm DCVC.
Agility’s losses aren’t just on paper. While about $38 million of the company’s $138.1 million net loss came from non-cash expenses tied to employee stock awards, filings show that the company used $99.8 million in cash to run the business in 2025. Agility lost $2.7 million on its sales, even before research and other company expenses.
“We expect to incur additional losses and higher operating expenses for the foreseeable future,” the company said in SEC filings.
“There’s a lot of challenges when it comes to solving unit economics,” Michelle Sun, a robotics analyst who writes the Substack Core Matter, told Business Insider.
Agility is betting on Digit 5, its newest robot, to grow its business. Digit 5 is designed to safely work near people without the safety barriers required by earlier versions.
The company’s filing says it has more than $300 million in orders for 1,000 robots from a single customer. This customer would pay to use the robots over a three-year period. But those orders depend on Agility meeting deadlines and delivering robots with the promised features.
Agility is targeting deliveries in the first half of 2027 and general availability by the end of that year.
The company’s public debut highlights a striking divide in how investors value humanoid robotics companies.
Agility’s $2.5 billion valuation is well below those of some privately held humanoid rivals, including Bay Area-based Figure AI at about $39 billion, Texas-based Apptronik at about $5.5 billion, and Germany-based Neura Robotics at around $7 billion. Tesla is also developing its own humanoid, Optimus, but the project doesn’t have a standalone valuation.
“This is a trend we’re seeing, where companies with deployments who are actually shipping hardware today are valued by the market a lot lower than companies that are betting on this future,” Chowdhury said.
Sun said that Agility’s listing would provide a reference point for how public markets value a company that makes humanoids, a form factor that remains controversial among both experts and investors.
Agility’s public listing comes as Washington tightens restrictions on foreign-made robots, potentially giving US manufacturers an edge. In July, the Federal Communications Commission banned new foreign-made “advanced robotic devices,” including humanoids, quadrupeds, and some robot vacuums. Agility manufactures Digit at its Oregon factory.
The humanoid market is currently dominated by Chinese companies such as Unitree, which went public on the Shanghai stock exchange this summer and has a market value of around $40 billion. Chinese robotics firms accounted for about 90% of humanoid robot shipments last year, according to Omdia.
“It’s good for the US to show strength in this area,” Johnson told Business Insider.
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