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what it is
Knightscope sells security robots, emergency call boxes, and monitoring software to places that want more machines and fewer guards.
how it gets paid
Last year Knightscope made $11M in revenue. Emergency Communication Devices was the main engine at $5.6M, or 51% of sales.
what just happened
Revenue jumped to $9M, but gross margin stayed below zero at -35.9%.
At a glance
C++ balance sheet — some cracks in the foundation
-$10.97 fy2024 eps est
$11M fy2024 rev est
n/a operating margin
1.8 beta
xvary composite: 32/100 — weak
What they do
Knightscope sells security robots, emergency call boxes, and monitoring software to places that want more machines and fewer guards.
The pitch is simple: a robot does the dull, repeatable patrol work without calling in sick. If you're a school, hospital, or parking operator, that story lands fast. The company had a $2.8 million backlog in November 2025, with $2.3 million tied to emergency devices and $0.5 million to robots, which says the hardware is getting real orders even if scale is still tiny.
How they make money
$11M
annual revenue
Emergency Communication Devices
$5.6M
Autonomous Security Robots
$2.8M
KSOC Monitoring Software
$1.3M
KEMS Device Management
$0.8M
KNOC and Services
$0.5M
The products that matter
autonomous security robots
Robot-as-a-Service
$9.8M · about 89% of mix shown
It produced $9.8M in the latest reported quarter, up 198% from a year ago. That's the number carrying the stock story right now.
core revenue engine
human guarding services
Event Risk
$1.2M · about 11% of mix shown
The March 2026 acquisition adds $1.2M of revenue. It broadens the offer, but it also introduces a lower-tech, labor-heavy service line beside the robots.
integration test
Key numbers
n/a
operating margin
Prior margin KPI failed sanity check — verify in filings. Operating margin -> profit after running the business -> so what: Knightscope loses nearly three dollars for every dollar it sells.
$11M
annual revenue
This is still a very small business, which makes every contract and every cost overrun matter more.
35.9%
gross margin
Gross margin -> money left after direct costs -> so what: the product itself is not yet profitable.
$2.8M
order backlog
Backlog -> signed work not yet recognized as revenue -> so what: it gives you some demand visibility equal to about 25% of annual sales.
Financial health
C++
strength
- balance sheet grade C++ — below average — limited financial resources
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $7M (12% of capital)
C++ — below average. watch for debt servicing and cash burn.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for KSCP right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Revenue jumped to $9M, but gross margin stayed below zero at -35.9%.
Sales grew 181% vs. prior year in the SEC data. The quiet part out loud: growth is arriving before a workable cost structure, not after it.
$9M
revenue
-$3.08
eps
35.9%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was -35.9% gross margin, because selling more unprofitable hardware can make the loss pile bigger, not smaller.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
The top risk is proving the $9.8M quarter was the start of a business, not the high-water mark of a story stock.
med
margin does not cover the machine
A 35.9% gross margin sounds decent until you remember the company is still losing money. If direct economics do not improve from here, revenue growth alone will not rescue the model.
Impact: if gross margin stalls around the mid-30s while revenue cools, the equity story shifts back to financing risk fast.
med
the quarterly spike fades
The trailing revenue base is still only $11M, even after a quarter that came in at $9.8M. That gap tells you the recent jump has not earned the word consistent yet.
Impact: if the next report lands closer to the $2.87M consensus than the recent $9.8M print, investors will treat the surge like a one-off.
med
Event Risk adds labor exposure
The March 2026 acquisition adds $1.2M of human guarding revenue. That may help cross-sell, but it also drags the model toward staffing complexity instead of pure software-like scaling.
Impact: the mix could get bigger without getting better, which is a classic small-cap trap.
med
balance sheet and volatility leave no cushion
C++ balance sheet grade, $7M of long-term debt, 1.8 beta, and price stability of 5 / 100 are not the profile of a company that can absorb repeated misses quietly.
Impact: at a $51M market cap, small disappointments can still cause oversized stock moves.
At $3.85, you are looking at a $51M equity with 1.8 beta and a 5 / 100 stability score. That combination does not forgive narrative breaks.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
margin
gross margin above 35.9%
Revenue got the headline. Margin decides whether that headline matters. If gross margin starts moving up from 35.9%, the business model gets easier to believe.
next report
consensus sits at -$0.76 EPS on $2.87M revenue
That is the near-term bar. A clean beat would help. A miss against numbers this low would say the recent quarter was less durable than it looked.
demand
new Robot-as-a-Service contracts
The bull case needs follow-through, not one loud quarter. Watch for additional contract announcements that make the $9.8M revenue print look repeatable.
integration
Event Risk mix shift
If the $1.2M human guarding segment grows faster than the robot business, Knightscope may be building a broader company but not a better one.
Analyst rankings
coverage
3 buys
The average price target is $15.30 based on three Buy ratings. In human-speak, the few analysts covering it still see upside, but the sample size is tiny.
next quarter
-$0.76
Consensus EPS is -$0.76 on $2.87M of revenue. The street is not modeling a clean turn to profitability yet.
trading profile
1.8 beta
Beta measures how violently a stock tends to move against the market. At 1.8, this has historically moved with extra force, and the 5 / 100 price stability score backs that up.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for KSCP is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$4
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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