The Global X Robotics & AI ETF (BOTZ): A Solid Way to Play Robotics

The post The Global X Robotics & AI ETF (BOTZ): A Solid Way to Play Robotics appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (NASDAQ:BOTZ) is the largest pure-play robotics fund in the U.S. market, holding roughly $3.54 billion in net assets across foreign-listed automation giants, U.S. AI chipmakers, and surgical robotics specialists that most retail investors would struggle to buy directly. That access is the real product. It is also why BOTZ lands as a solid B-tier pick in 24/7 Wall St.’s ranking of AI and robotics ETFs, hosted by Eric Bleeker: useful, liquid, brand-name exposure, but not the sharpest tool in the category.

This piece is Chapter 3 of Bleeker’s Best AI ETFs series. The argument is straightforward. BOTZ does the heavy lifting of assembling a global robotics supply chain in one ticker, but heavy concentration in a few names and a few notable gaps in its holdings keep it a step below the best option in the space.

Watch our Full Review of the BOTZ ETF

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Why Robotics Almost Demands an ETF Wrapper

Robotics is structurally a global supply chain story, and that is where BOTZ earns its keep. Eight of the fund’s ten largest holdings trade outside the U.S., with four headquartered in Japan, alongside meaningful weights in South Korea, Switzerland, China, and Hong Kong. Buying these names individually requires navigating ADRs, foreign brokers, and currency conversion. A single ETF sidesteps all of that.

(Please note that holdings will shift on a day-to-day basis, so some of these holdings may have shifted, but the general idea the fund is incredibly diversified globally remains.) 

The portfolio runs about 48 equity positions, with cash and a small futures sleeve filling the rest. Top weights as of late February skew toward industrial automation and AI compute: ABB at 10.5%, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) at 9.9%, FANUC at 9.7%, KEYENCE at 6.4%, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) at 5.8%, and DAIFUKU at 5.3%. Japanese factory-floor specialists, U.S. surgical robotics, and the AI accelerator leader all sit inside the same wrapper. For an investor who wants thematic robotics exposure without picking national champions one by one, that is a real advantage.

Geographically, the breakdown lands at roughly 40% U.S., 35% Japan, 6% South Korea, 5% China, and 14% Europe and other. That mix more closely resembles where robotics is actually built than what most U.S.-listed sector funds capture.

The Concentration Problem

Bleeker’s biggest reservation with BOTZ is concentration. About 40% of fund weight sits in just five names, which is a heavy tilt for a thematic vehicle meant to spread bets across an emerging supply chain. If FANUC stalls, as it has for stretches given revenue that has not grown over the past five years, or if a humanoid robotics pivot leaves an incumbent flat-footed, that single position drags the whole fund.

Bleeker’s analysis also flags missing names. Teradyne (NYSE: TER), which Bleeker calls the standout robotics performer of the past 18 months, does not appear in recent disclosures. Several supply chain players he would expect in a robotics fund are absent. The Global Robotics & AI Thematic Index screens for revenue-purity thresholds, which can exclude conglomerates and diversified industrials with meaningful robotics businesses but smaller pure-play revenue lines.

What the Performance Actually Says

BOTZ trades near $40 and has returned roughly 11% year to date and 29% over the past year. The 10-year return runs about 183%. The five-year figure is a more modest 16%, reflecting the post-2021 reset in growth names and a sluggish stretch for Japanese industrial automation.

The more telling comparison Bleeker draws is against the NASDAQ-100. Since the start of 2024, BOTZ has underperformed simply holding the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ). An investor who wanted tech exposure and skipped the thematic premium would have done better. That does not invalidate the fund, because thematic vehicles are meant to lead in years when their theme runs, but it does undercut the case for paying a sector-fund expense ratio versus a broad tech index when robotics is still waiting for breakthroughs before it could hit an inflection point in the years to come.

Eric Bleeker’s Full AI ETF Breakdown

The full ranking, including the robotics ETF Bleeker prefers over BOTZ for diversification, is in the 24/7 Wall St. video walkthrough. Chapter 7 of that series covers the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF (NYSEARCA:ROBO), which holds most positions at 1% to 2% weights and avoids the top-heavy structure that defines BOTZ.

Bleeker is the host of the AI Investor Podcast.

The podcast provides news in the AI and robotics space and issues recommendations in an AI portfolio. Bleeker’s average recommendation since the Podcast launched is up a remarkable 175% across 52 different recommendations.

Who BOTZ Fits, and Who Should Look Elsewhere

BOTZ is the right pick for an investor who specifically wants brand-name global robotics exposure in a liquid wrapper and values the ability to access Japanese and Korean automation specialists without opening foreign brokerage accounts. With NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) at nearly 10% of assets, part of the return engine is really AI compute rather than pure robotics, which is a feature for some readers and a bug for others.

Investors who should look elsewhere are those who prefer equal-weighted exposure across the broader robotics supply chain, including the smaller component makers, vision-system specialists, and integrators that BOTZ either underweights or skips entirely. As an alternative, ROBO carries a higher expense ratio but a flatter distribution and, per the video, has slightly outpaced BOTZ since the start of 2024.

BOTZ is solid without being exceptional. Bleeker assigns the ETF a B-tier label, which reflects a fund that earns its place through structural access and liquidity while leaving room for a more thoughtfully constructed peer to claim the top spot in the category.

The post The Global X Robotics & AI ETF (BOTZ): A Solid Way to Play Robotics appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..