Shares in e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) were higher today as it hailed a “fundamental leap” in robotics which promised to dramatically speed up its warehouse operations.
As reported by the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. Amazon said it had developed a robot with a sense of touch which is capable of grabbing around three-quarters of products stored in its vast warehouses worldwide.
Fundamental Leap Forward
The robot is called Vulcan – the fictional planet which Star Trek character Spock called home – and is being launched today at Amazon’s “Delivering the Future” event in Germany. It is set to be rolled out around the globe in the next few years.
It is designed to work with humans to help them sort items for storage and then get them ready for delivery. Vulcan uses AI to work out whether it can handle an object and if so, how best to pick it up.
Aside from leading to quicker operations Amazon hopes it will also improve the health and safety of its warehouse staff. That’s because Vulcan can stow items on upper or lower height shelving units so people don’t have to take to ladders or bend over so often during their shifts.
Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of robotics, said Vulcan was a “fundamental leap forward in robotics.” He added: “It’s not just seeing the world, it’s feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for Amazon robots until now.”
Cut Costs and Challenge China
Amazon is also planning to install technology, using machine learning to create bespoke packaging to cut waste, in its warehouses by the end of this year.
Analysts expect Amazon to spend up to $25 billion this year on its retail network, focusing on automation and efficiency. The company is looking to cut costs across the business to boost revenues and to improve delivery times in the face of growing competition from low-cost rivals such as PDD Holdings (PDD) owned Temu, and fashion retailer Shein.
Earlier this week it announced the rollout of low-cost service Haul in the U.K., partly to fend off that competition in the wake of tariff trade wars.
Is AMZN a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, AMZN has a Strong Buy consensus based on 48 Buy and 1 Hold rating. Its highest price target is $305. AMZN stock’s consensus price target is $241.59 implying an 30.58% upside.
