Japan's Fanuc builds $4bn cash hoard. Is it ready to spend?

TOKYO -- Japanese robot maker Fanuc has been withholding investment and reducing excess inventory, a defensive approach that has boosted its free cash flow to 560 billion yen ($3.8 billion) and has investors wondering when and how it will use this war chest.

The company had had been considering building a plant in the mid-2020s at one of its three Japanese robot production hubs. But in an earnings briefing in July, President Kenji Yamaguchi said Fanuc would instead boost production by making effective use of existing facilities.