If there’s one thing Japan is known for, it’s their incredible advancements in robotics. Some find this odd, particularly given that the Japanese are also known for extensive use of the fax machine. At any rate, Uber (NASDAQ:UBER) is taking advantage of the Japanese familiarity with robots by putting one such robot to use in food deliveries. The news didn’t much help Uber stock, however, as it was down fractionally in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
Uber teamed up with Cartken, a robotics company, and Mitsubishi Electric, a major Japanese industrial operation, to create a line of small robots geared toward sidewalks that will ferry food from one place to another. While this operation will be limited to Tokyo for now, this will be the first time that Uber has made autonomous delivery options available through the app. However, Japanese restaurants have long put robots to work, and it’s a common play throughout the Japanese hospitality market. Uber also has robot deliveries in Miami, Florida and Fairfax, Virginia, so it could only be a matter of time before it spreads.
An Idea Long Dreamed Of
The notion of using robots for food delivery has been a dream long cherished in the United States. A wide range of people have long dreamed of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) getting out of its own way long enough to let airborne drones carry food to ruralites hungry for some of those big city tastes. And indeed, that’s a process in the making, as Aviant has produced a line of long-distance delivery drones that can stand up to bad weather. They’re currently being tested in Lillehammer, Norway, which is no stranger to foul weather. Uber has a significant advantage right now, but it won’t be able to count on that advantage holding up for long. Too many others want in on this as soon as law and technology allow.
Is Uber a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on UBER stock based on 36 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 121.8% rally in its share price over the past year, the average UBER price target of $84.32 per share implies 10.55% upside potential.
