Agility Robotics lists on Nasdaq as humanoid robot risks and business model are disclosed

Agility Robotics has become the first dedicated developer of humanoid robots to become a publicly traded company in the United States, listing on Nasdaq on November 5. The company, headquartered in Salem, Oregon, previously became the first to achieve full-time commercial deployment of humanoid robots at a customer warehouse in 2024. Its disclosures outline plans to rent or sell Digit robots for manual labor, along with financial risks and competition.

Business model and unit economics

Agility described illustrative unit economics in an S-4 registration statement filed September 4. Under a subscription model, customers would pay about $25,000 per robot for delivery and deployment plus a recurring monthly fee of $8,500 for software and maintenance. Customers can instead buy hardware outright for $200,000 plus $20,000 for delivery and deployment, with an annual subscription fee of $36,000 for software and maintenance. In exchange, customers would get access to Digit 5 starting in 2027.

Digit 5 capabilities and costs

Digit 5 can lift up to 50-pound loads, perform more than 20 hours of work in a 24-hour period, and has swappable end-effector hands. Its fast-charging battery system, using Nyobolt chemistry under an exclusive agreement for humanoid robots, requires nine minutes to deliver 90 minutes of runtime. Agility estimated annual operating costs of $15,000 per robot for software and maintenance, a one-time deployment cost of $15,000, and an initial bill of materials cost of $150,000 per Digit v5 robot, with a useful lifespan of about five years.

Revenue, losses and competition

Agility anticipates bill of materials costs falling to $75,000 per robot at annual production of 1,000 robots and $30,000 at 10,000 robots per year. It anticipates about $500,000 per robot annually through subscriptions and about $400,000 per robot each year under ownership, based on an unidentified customer's $300 million order for 1,000 Digit 5 robots over three years. The order does not guarantee that revenue, because the contract requires Agility to meet certain contractual milestones, product features and specifications. The company earned $1.8 million in revenue in 2025 against a $140 million operating loss. Agility also cautioned that competition is intensifying, naming Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Apptronik, Figure AI, 1X Technologies, Sanctuary AI, Hexagon, and NEURA Robotics, among others.

Sources: Ars Technica