TLDR
- A senior Hyundai executive says a Boston Dynamics IPO in 2027 is unlikely
- The Atlas robot has not yet been deployed at scale and the company remains unprofitable
- Boston Dynamics recorded a loss of 528.4 billion won in 2025
- Analysts suggest an IPO is more likely in 2029 or 2030 at the earliest
- Hyundai plans to produce 30,000 robots a year by 2028, but some analysts call targets ambitious
Boston Dynamics, the humanoid robot company owned by Hyundai Motor Group, is unlikely to go public in 2027, according to a senior Hyundai executive with direct knowledge of the matter.
Exclusive: Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Motor Group's humanoid robot unit, is unlikely to pursue an initial public offering next year, as it has yet to deploy its flagship Atlas robots at scale and remains unprofitable. Read more – https://t.co/I4mlPoTcIo
— Reuters Tech News (@ReutersTech) September 14, 2026
The executive said conditions are not yet right, citing the fact that the Atlas robot has not been deployed at scale and the company is still losing money.
IPO Timeline Could Stretch to 2029 or Later
Analysts say an IPO is more likely in 2029 or 2030. Kim Joon-sung at Meritz Securities said Hyundai first needs to collect large amounts of operational data and improve robot capabilities before selling them broadly to outside customers.
Hyundai has not disclosed a timeline or valuation target for a potential listing. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Boston Dynamics posted a loss of 528.4 billion won in 2025. Total losses from 2021 through 2025 came to nearly 1.7 trillion won, according to a filing from Hyundai Glovis, which holds around 11% of the company.
Valuations for Boston Dynamics vary widely. Samsung Securities estimates the market places its value between 50 trillion won and 100 trillion won. IBK Securities said it could be worth 141 trillion won by 2030, when it expects revenue of around 11 trillion won.
Scaling Humanoid Robots Remains a Major Challenge
Hyundai has said it wants to build a factory capable of making 30,000 robots a year by 2028. It also plans to deploy humanoid robots at its plant in Georgia that year before rolling them out across its manufacturing network. Some analysts say those targets are hard to reach.
Kim Hyun-su, a senior fund manager at IBK Asset Management in Seoul, said replacing human workers on assembly lines will take much longer than expected. He noted that making robots dance is one thing, but making them carry heavy loads in a factory is a much harder problem.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is developing the Optimus humanoid robot, has also described humanoid robots as the hardest product his company has ever tried to manufacture at scale.
Hyundai bought a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in 2021. In July this year, it announced plans to make Boston Dynamics a wholly owned subsidiary by buying out SoftBank’s roughly 10% stake. That deal was reported to be worth about 500 billion won, or around $371 million.
Hyundai Motor shares are up 25% so far this year, though they have pulled back from record highs hit earlier in 2026 after the company unveiled the production version of the Atlas robot in January at CES in Las Vegas.
Boston Dynamics shareholders include Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.
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