Stock Market Today, Jan. 6: Grab Rallies on AI Robotics Deal to Boost Delivery Automation

Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB), a Southeast Asian superapp for rides and deliveries, closed Tuesday at $5.27, up 3.54%. Grab IPO'd in 2020 and has fallen 56% since going public. Trading volume reached 70.7 million shares, approximately 52% above its three-month average of 46.5 million shares.

Tuesday’s move came as traders reacted to premarket news that Grab is acquiring AI robotics firm Infermove.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 rose 0.62% to 6,945, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.65% to 23,547. Industry peers Uber Technologies and Lyft also advanced, as the market moved the vast majority of growth stocks (not just ride-hailing businesses) higher on a broadly positive day.

What this means for investors

Grab's acquisition of China-based Infermove will be an intriguing development for investors to watch over time. Infermove and its AI-powered Carri robots can be used for the "first mile" and "last mile" of the delivery process, as well as many other applications, including warehousing and retail. The Carri mobile manipulation robots leverage driving data, imitation learning, and reinforcement learning to learn how to navigate unpredictable environments, such as sidewalks, while delivering food orders or groceries.

Industry analysts believe the last-mile robotics delivery market could be worth $20 billion by 2027, making this a potential shrewd acquisition for Grab as it seeks to expand its massive ride-hailing and delivery network across Southeast Asia. Growing sales by 17% annually over the last five years and recently reaching profitability, Grab is a promising growth stock for investors to monitor.

Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Lyft and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Lyft and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Grab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.