Hyundai Motor Group’s robotics unit faces a delayed market debut amid ongoing losses and commercialisation hurdles for its Atlas robot.
Boston Dynamics is unlikely to pursue an initial public offering next year, according to a senior executive at parent company Hyundai Motor Group, as the robotics unit struggles with ongoing unprofitability and delays in deploying its flagship humanoid robots at scale.
“It won’t be easy,” the executive told Reuters under condition of anonymity, indicating that a stock market debut for the US-based company could remain several years away. “We need to see conditions and situations.”
Hyundai Motor Group has not publicly disclosed an official timeline or valuation target for a listing. Neither Hyundai nor Boston Dynamics were immediately available to comment.
Hyundai acquired a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in 2021 and moved to make it a wholly owned subsidiary in July by acquiring SoftBank’s remaining 10 per cent stake, a deal media reports estimated at roughly $372 million. While investor enthusiasm for the company’s updated Atlas robot helped drive Hyundai Motor’s stock to record highs earlier this year, shares have since surrendered much of those gains amidst a lack of concrete updates regarding commercial deployment.
Analysts attribute the delayed listing timeline to the technical challenges of scaling humanoid robots for industrial environments. Hyundai aims to construct a manufacturing facility capable of producing 30,000 units annually by 2028, with initial deployment planned at its Georgia plant in the US, though analysts consider these timelines optimistic.
“It’s not difficult to make robots dance, but it’s challenging to make them carry heavy loads and get involved in manufacturing at plants,” said Kim Hyun-su, a senior fund manager at IBK Asset Management.
Boston Dynamics recorded an operating loss of $393 million in 2025, bringing cumulative losses between 2021 and 2025 to nearly $1.26 billion, according to regulatory filings. Analysts at Meritz Securities suggest an IPO is more realistic around 2029 or 2030, allowing the firm time to gather operational data and refine robot capabilities before attempting commercial distribution to external customers.
