A senior executive at Hyundai Motor Group indicated that the conglomerate's humanoid robotics arm, Boston Dynamics, is unlikely to proceed with an initial public offering next year, citing the fact that its flagship Atlas robot has yet to achieve scalable deployment and the company remains unprofitable.

This statement suggests that the U.S.-based robotics firm's market debut could still be several years away. When asked whether an IPO in the coming year was feasible, the executive replied, "It's not easy," adding that "we need to assess the conditions and circumstances" without elaborating further. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the matter.

Hyundai Motor Group has not publicly disclosed a timeline or valuation target for a potential Boston Dynamics listing. The group did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Boston Dynamics was unavailable for comment outside of business hours.

Since the unveiling of the upgraded Atlas at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January, investors and analysts have been closely monitoring whether Hyundai would push for a U.S. listing of Boston Dynamics to secure capital for growth. With investor enthusiasm for the robotics sector intensifying, analysts have begun publishing projections for the company's sales growth and potential valuation.

Hyundai acquired a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in 2021 and announced in July a plan to purchase the roughly 10% stake held by SoftBank, making the robotics company a wholly-owned subsidiary. The transaction value was not disclosed, though media reports at the time suggested it could be worth around 500 billion Korean won (approximately $371.5 million).

The group's robotics strategy has captured investor attention. Earlier this year, Hyundai's stock price more than doubled following the release of the Atlas production version, but it has since given back much of those gains due to a lack of updates on the robotics front. Hyundai, together with affiliate Kia, forms the world's third-largest automotive group, with shares up 25% year-to-date, lagging behind the broader market's 60% gain.

IPO Could Still Be Years Away

Analysts believe Boston Dynamics is unlikely to go public in the near term, as humanoid robots remain unable to achieve widespread deployment in factory settings. Hyundai has stated it plans to build a facility capable of producing 30,000 robots annually by 2028, with the goal of deploying humanoid robots at its Georgia plant in the U.S. that same year, before expanding across its entire manufacturing network. Some analysts view these targets as ambitious.

"I think it could take considerably more time before humanoid robots replace human workers on assembly lines," said Kim Hyun-su, a senior fund manager at IBK Asset Management in Seoul. "Getting a robot to dance is simple, but having them carry heavy objects and participate in factory manufacturing is challenging."

Elon Musk's Tesla is developing its own humanoid robot, Optimus. Musk has described humanoid robots as the "hardest scaling manufacturing problem" the electric vehicle maker has ever undertaken.

Estimates for Boston Dynamics' valuation vary widely. Samsung Securities noted that market valuations range between 50 trillion and 100 trillion Korean won. Kim Joon-sung, an analyst at Meritz Securities, suggested that a Boston Dynamics IPO is more likely to occur in 2029 or 2030, as Hyundai first needs to gather substantial operational data and enhance robot capabilities before broadly selling to external customers.

In August, IBK Securities projected that Boston Dynamics could be valued at 141 trillion Korean won by 2030, with revenue expected to reach approximately 11 trillion Korean won at that time.

According to filings from Hyundai Glovis, which holds an approximately 11% stake in the company, Boston Dynamics posted a loss of 528.4 billion Korean won in 2025. The filings also show cumulative losses of nearly 1.7 trillion Korean won from 2021 through 2025. Other shareholders include Hyundai Motor, Kia, automotive parts manufacturer Hyundai Mobis, and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung.