While you have seen a multitude of stories about the rise of robots in manufacturing as well as in everyday life, you may not be aware of FANUC (FANUY), a Japanese blue chip with zero debt, a sterling reputation, and a storied past, notes Carl Delfeld, global expert and editor of Cabot Explorer.
Based in Oshino, a village at the foot of Mount Fuji, Fanuc is the world’s leading manufacturer of computerized numerical control (CNC) devices that are used in machine tools and also serve as the “brains” of industrial robots. Fanuc claims to be the only company that uses robots to make robots.
Fanuc, whose name is an acronym for Fuji Automatic Numerical Control, has been a world leader in robotics since the early 1970s. It was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu in 1955 after that electronics giant decided to enter the factory automation business.
Today Fanuc is as global as it gets with more than 240 joint ventures and offices in over 46 countries with a commanding 65% share of the its world market.
The company can churn out 10,000 industrial robots per month, double that of its closest competitor. But while it stays on the edge of new technology, it’s a conservative company. Watching costs carefully leads to exceptional operating margins of 25% while their competition hovers around 10%.
Over time, Fanuc has become a key supplier to some of the world’s most important industries, selling some 500,000 robots overall. Major car manufacturers, including Tesla (TSLA), are often assembled and welded by Fanuc’s six-axis yellow robots.
The frames of iPhones are made in Fanuc’s Robodrill machines and its robots also help with the production of aeronautical components and even apply the varnish on Fender guitars. CSLA estimates U.S. market share at 50% and in China about 20%. Exports account for 90% of Fanuc’s sales.
Fanuc should benefit from robust demand from developed markets as well as China as manufacturing wages continue to increase and manufacturers look to robots to increase productivity. You can find Fanuc robots at Amazon (AMZN) warehouses as well as on the shop floor of General Motors (GM).
Much of the company’s sales are channeled through GE Fanuc, a 50-50 automated machinery joint venture with General Electric Company (GE). Fanuc does most of its manufacturing in Japan. Fanuc is building a new factory near Tokyo to double its domestic output capacity of machine tools to produce parts for smartphones.
Fanuc’s stock offers investors a pristine balance sheet with zero debt and a whopping $7 billion in cash. Profit margins are impressive and Fanuc also bought back 72 million shares last month. In short, Fanuc is a high-quality play on what seems to be an unstoppable trend. Down 33% from its 52-week high at just under 15 per share, my six-month target is 25, or about 70% upside to its current share price.
