Why Serve Robotics Stock Popped Today

Serve Robotics (NASDAQ: SERV) stock, which makes autonomous food delivery robots powered by artificial intelligence, surged 11.3% through 11 a.m. ET Monday. And why?

This morning, Serve announced it has deployed its 1,000th autonomous delivery robot.

Image source: Getty Images.

Service with 1,000 smiles

Without context, it's hard to know how significant 1,000 robots is, but consider this: Serve deployed more than 380 third-generation robots in September alone. That means more than one-third of the Serve robots in service today came online in just the last month.

By year's end, Serve Robotics says it will have 2,000 robots in operation, and that target seems achievable. In fact, with three months left in the year, and a deployment rate of 380 per month, the company might actually exceed its target.

Is Serve Robotics stock a buy?

Exceed its robot deployment target, that is. Hitting other targets is iffier.

For example, Serve lost $39 million last year but lost more than $34 million in just the first six months of this year. That puts it on track for perhaps $68 million in losses in 2025, which means the company's losses are growing almost as fast as its robot fleet -- which probably wasn't what you would have expected.

Revenue at the company -- $1.8 million last year -- is growing as well, with $1.1 million booked so far in 2025.That still implies that revenue might hit only $2.2 million in sales this year, and Wall Street right now wants to see $3.7 million, so a miss on sales is a distinct possibility.

Analysts forecast Serve won't earn its first profit until 2031 -- and until its sales approach $340 million per year. That's a long time to ask investors to wait to see if Serve stock will succeed or not.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Serve Robotics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.