AutoStore nearly doubles first-quarter revenue to $165.8 million as adjusted EBITDA margin jumps to 44%

AutoStore, the Norwegian maker of robotic cube storage for warehouses, reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $165.8 million on April 23, 2026, up 92.9% from $85.9 million a year earlier. The company, listed on the Oslo stock exchange, classified the release as inside information under the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

Profitability rose faster than sales. Adjusted EBITDA reached $72.9 million against $21.1 million, an increase of 246.2%, lifting the margin to 44.0% from 24.5%. EBIT was $53.1 million against $7.8 million, and adjusted EBIT was $60.6 million, a 36.6% margin. Gross profit was $120.6 million, though gross margin slipped to 72.7% from 74.0%. Net income was $40.5 million, according to the quarterly report, and cash flow conversion improved to 81.9% from 45.9%.

Order intake rose 27.0% to $179.4 million, ahead of revenue, which implies a book-to-bill ratio of about 1.08. The order backlog stood at $570.6 million at the end of March. Cash was $84.0 million, down from $90.1 million at the end of 2025.

The size of the jump owes much to the base. AutoStore's quarterly report describes the first quarter of 2025 as unusually weak, and Chief Executive Mats Hovland Vikse said activity had improved gradually over the past four quarters. He said customers are prioritizing resilient and flexible supply chains, which favors automation that can be installed in existing buildings.

The outlook was cautious. AutoStore gave no numerical guidance and said that, while customers recognize the strong payback of its systems, uncertainty around global trade flows may drive more cautious capital investment decisions and limit near-term visibility.

The quarter also followed a product push. In March AutoStore unveiled CubeVerse, a cloud and data platform that connects its applications, AI functions and partner integrations, along with AutoStore Intelligence, CubeStudio, CubeAnalytics, CubeControl and VersaAI. The investor presentation describes VersaAI as robotic piece picking for order preparation, consolidation and staging. Vikse said the launch adds an intelligence layer built on data from AutoStore's installed base.

That base is large. The press release counts more than 1,950 installed systems and more than 1,300 customers in more than 65 countries, and the presentation cites about 89,000 robots in operation. In an AutoStore system, bins are stacked directly on top of one another inside a grid without aisles. Battery-powered robots run on the top of the grid, dig out the requested bin and deliver it to a port where a worker or a robot arm picks the item.

AutoStore sells mainly through integration partners, which explains why its margins sit far above those of companies that build entire warehouses. Symbotic, which designs and commissions full case-handling systems for Walmart, reported an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 11.5% for its quarter to March 28, on revenue of $676.5 million. Teradyne's robotics segment, which includes Universal Robots and MiR, reported first-quarter revenue of $91 million. Ocado Group, the British grocery technology company, competes most directly with a grid-based design of its own.

For the global market the quarter is a sign that warehouse automation spending recovered from its 2024 and early 2025 slump. But the recovery came before a period of tariff uncertainty, and AutoStore's own language suggests customers might delay projects, particularly in North America, where most large new warehouses are built.

The main risks are visibility and margin mix. Without guidance, investors have only the backlog and order intake to judge the rest of the year. Gross margin fell 1.3 percentage points, and the new software products have yet to show up as a separate revenue line.

The next checkpoints are the annual general meeting in May, the second-quarter report on August 13, 2026, and evidence of whether CubeVerse and VersaAI generate recurring revenue.