The bionic exoskeleton industry is expanding at a tremendous pace, and EKSO BIONICS HOLDING (OTCBB:EKSO) seems well positioned in the industry. It has been an early mover and lead innovator in the growing market, and therefore holds a significant competitive advantage moving forward.
The financials
Ekso Bionics is an early mover in a growing market, which implies that the company’s financials are reasonably modest. The balance sheet is robust for a company still basically in its developmental stage. The company ended 4Q with $25.2million in cash/cash equivalents with no debt in books. Given the company’s $18.35 million in SG&A expenses for FY2014, it should have adequate cash to carry out its operations for the next year or so.
The costs
Ekso Bionics R&D costs can rise in the coming years and will constitute a major part of the expenses for the foreseeable future. The company’s R&D expenses of $3.87 million incurred in FY2014 matched up with the total annual revenue of $5.33 million. The revenue was very much in line with expectations as company has performed better in the early stages of development. Bionic exoskeleton technology is far away from maturity stage and therefore, large amounts of funds will be funneled into R&D. Here, it is important to remember that the funds spent on innovation will eventually have notable impact on the company’s products. In that case, revenues would outpace R&D expenses.
The scope
Ekso Bionics’ exoskeletons considerably enhance user capabilities, which make them exceptionally promising in the medical and military fields. While company’s products are expensive and somewhat clumsy, quick advancements in robotic AI should assist to lessen these issues in the future. The bionic exoskeleton market is in initial stage, with an increasing number of approvals from the FDA for business, commercial, and military use of exoskeletons.
In last trading session, EKSO BIONICS HOLDING (OTCBB:EKSO) stock prices posted gains of 6.11% to close at $1.39, with trading volume of 1.45 million.
