ROBOTIS is showing weakness in after-hours trading following a physical partitioning of its autonomous driving robot business sector. Although ROBOTIS stated that it has no plans to list the newly established company within five years after the partitioning, it seems that many investors are currently looking to sell.

ROBOTIS shares were traded at 36,050 won in after-hours trading at 4:30 p.m. on the 18th, which is 7.45% (2,900 won) lower than the closing price (38,950 won) that day.

Capture of the ROBOTIS website
Capture of the ROBOTIS website

ROBOTIS started this year at 25,050 won and surged amid a boom in robot-themed stocks. On the 3rd of last month, the stock price soared to 45,000 won during trading, marking its highest price since its listing in 2018. After experiencing some adjustments, it showed an upward trend again this month, recovering above the 40,000 won mark the previous day.

However, ROBOTIS appears to be showing a bearish trend again after announcing its physical partitioning plan following the close of regular trading that day. Physical partitioning is a method of corporate division where the existing company holds 100% of the equity of the newly established company.

ROBOTIS plans to establish ROBOTIS (provisional name) by divesting its autonomous driving robot business sector. ROBOTIS noted that the reason for the partitioning is that "most of the revenue comes from the actuator sector, but a significant portion of development costs is incurred in the autonomous driving sector, leading to continuous losses."

ROBOTIS expected that through the physical partitioning, the existing company could shift to profitability and focus on its actuator business to seize the market for physical artificial intelligence (Physical AI, combining robots with AI). The newly established company (ROBOTIS) is anticipated to become more favorable for attracting investment and build an image suitable for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.

ROBOTIS also stated that it has no plans to list ROBOTIS. ROBOTIS asserted, "This is not intended to undermine the value of the existing company through the listing of the new company," and added, "The new company has no plans to apply for preliminary review for listing on the securities market within five years after partitioning."

ROBOTIS will receive objections regarding the physical partitioning from April 17 to May 1. An extraordinary shareholders meeting is scheduled for May 2. Following the exercise of appraisal rights and other procedures, it plans to complete the physical partitioning by June 1.