UBS Equity Preference List Beyond AI The Power of Humanoids and Automation 2026 08 17
17 August 2026, 08:47 UTC Chief Investment Office GWM Investment Research
Beyond AI: The Power of Humanoids and Automation Equity preferences
While industrial robots and advanced industrial automation have been with us for several decades, significant breakthroughs in processing power and artificial Achille Monnet UBS Switzerland AG intelligence are triggering “AI in motion” across several industries, presenting dynamic growth opportunities.
We used to say that with Moore’s Law processing power was doubling every Allen Pu 18-24 months, but AI advancements are doubling every seven months, setting UBS AG Hong Kong Branch off “AI in motion” across many industries; that is to say that AI is driving a quantum leap in the “smartness” of autonomous systems such as humanoid robotics, Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS), and robotaxis, as well as Please see important disclaimers and transforming traditional industries including aerospace, agriculture, smart- disclosures at the end of this glasses, and medicine. The emergence of vision-language–action (VLA) models document. in particular represents a transformative shift in robotics and ADAS, by enabling systems to convert sensory input and natural-language instructions directly into motor actions.
Ageing populations and shrinking work forces are creating unprecedented labor gaps globally, offering scalable opportunities for the application of embodied AI such as humanoid robots and other forms of autonomous automation. Current reshoring trends are reshaping global manufacturing, presenting dual challenges of high labor costs and labor scarcity, against a backdrop of anti- immigration sentiment. This accelerates demand for rapid adoption of embodied AI solutions requiring minimum human intervention, in our view.
We advise gaining broad exposure to “embodied AI” verticals “set in motion” by accelerating AI advances. Here we identify the highest growth opportunities in humanoid robots, advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), and robotaxis, as well as niche segments within industrial automation, agritech, smart glasses, robotic surgery, and drones. Humanoids and automation operate largely independently and can serve as a fresh, complementary source of alpha not yet captured by existing TRIO strategies.
Latest Changes: We have updated the “Why it is Most Preferred” texts for KION and Schneider Electric and updated the “What drives our opinion” text for KION.
Most Preferred Company Changes* Currency Weight
ABB Ltd CHF 5.0% AGCO Corp. USD 3.0% Alibaba Group USD 4.0% Amazon.com USD 3.0% Autodesk Inc USD 2.0% Baidu, Inc. USD 2.0% BlackRock, Inc. USD 2.0%
Chief Investment Office GWM, 17 August 2026 Page 1 of 29
Beyond AI: The Power of Humanoids and Automation
Company Changes* Currency Weight
BYD Company Limited HKD 1.0% Contemporary Amperex Technology HKD 2.0% Daifuku JPY 2.0% Deere & Co. USD 3.0% Emerson Electric Co USD 3.0% Fanuc JPY 1.0% Honeywell International Inc USD 4.0% Hyundai Motor KRW 1.0% Intuitive Surgical Inc USD 5.0% Johnson & Johnson USD 5.0% Keyence JPY 3.0% KION EUR 4.0% MediaTek Inc. TWD 2.0% Meta Platforms USD 3.0% Oracle Corporation USD 3.0% Panasonic JPY 2.0% Rockwell Automation Inc USD 3.0% Salesforce Inc USD 2.0% Samsung Electronics KRW 4.0% Schneider Electric EUR 4.0% Siemens EUR 4.0% Stryker Corp USD 3.0% Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing TWD 5.0% Tencent Holdings HKD 4.0% THK JPY 2.0% Xiaomi HKD 2.0% Yaskawa Electric JPY 2.0%
Source: UBS, Consider potential trading restrictions, all figures are rounded *Changes since the last publication
Positioning and key trends We used to say that with Moore’s Law processing power was doubling every 18- 24 months, but AI advancements are doubling every seven months triggering “AI in motion” across several industries. We advise gaining broad exposure to “embodied AI” verticals “set in motion” by accelerating AI advances. We identify the highest growth opportunities in humanoid robots, advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), and robotaxis, as well niche segments within drones, agritech, smart glasses, and robotic surgery. We conservatively estimate the total addressable global market for humanoids and automation at USD 402bn…
Read the full report + PDF阅读全文与 PDF
The full summary (5 key points) and the original UBS PDF are for MastermindX Pro members. 完整摘要(5 个要点)与 UBS 原始 PDF 为 MastermindX Pro 会员专享。
Read on MastermindX前往 MastermindX 阅读