Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM) is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business, so we would like to shine some light on the company. Symbotic Inc., an automation technology company, engages in developing technologies to improve operating efficiencies in modern warehouses. The US$28b market-cap company posted a loss in its most recent financial year of US$24m and a latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$19m shrinking the gap between loss and breakeven. The most pressing concern for investors is Symbotic's path to profitability – when will it breakeven? We've put together a brief outline of industry analyst expectations for the company, its year of breakeven and its implied growth rate.

Consensus from 16 of the American Machinery analysts is that Symbotic is on the verge of breakeven. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2024, before generating positive profits of US$217m in 2025. Therefore, the company is expected to breakeven just over a year from today. What rate will the company have to grow year-on-year in order to breakeven on this date? Using a line of best fit, we calculated an average annual growth rate of 121%, which is extremely buoyant. If this rate turns out to be too aggressive, the company may become profitable much later than analysts predict.

We're not going to go through company-specific developments for Symbotic given that this is a high-level summary, though, take into account that generally a high forecast growth rate is not unusual for a company that is currently undergoing an investment period.

Before we wrap up, there's one aspect worth mentioning. Symbotic currently has no debt on its balance sheet, which is rare for a loss-making growth company, which usually has a high level of debt relative to its equity. This means that the company has been operating purely on its equity investment and has no debt burden. This aspect reduces the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

There are key fundamentals of Symbotic which are not covered in this article, but we must stress again that this is merely a basic overview. For a more comprehensive look at Symbotic, take a look at Symbotic's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of important aspects you should further research:

1. Valuation: What is Symbotic worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Symbotic is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Symbotic's board and the CEO's background.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.