Let me start by saying I am holding EKSO long. I've been watching them very closely for a couple years now. Being such, this post will also be somewhat long and discuss both pro's and con's.
In general, it's hard to hold a penny stock for very long given the industry standards. Most of the forums I visit do not even allow conversation of penny stocks. Serious conversation boards view this as a protection from hype, with a commitment to being serious. I don't blame them, but at the same time many investors will miss out for ignoring investigation into the field themselves by not ever dropping their 10 foot pole. Back to the company: Their view is focused on rehabilitation short-term and while there is plenty of growth to be seen, especially for stroke patients, I personally view them as primarily a military company. They were founded as such (reducing power output by 3 magnitudes at time of conception) with the purpose of being a highly efficient load carrier for soldiers. My understanding that this was achieved largely by changing from electromotors to hydraulics (there is a reason the co-founder used to work for Rainbird) and also by employing smart physics to minimize torque angles. The T.A.L.O.S. project is an evolved concept of this idea, meant for the front leader in the breaching of buildings. I think this will be a revolutionary game changer in warfare and that Ekso is the best equipped to satisfy the market.
My own personal interest is intensified for many reasons I will admit. For one, I love robotics and all of the books of Isaac Asimov. Not only did he coin the word 'robotics', but also his vision of robotics into the far future was astounding for the time and remains to be so. Second, I love physics; I'm soon to graduate with a minor in it. Lastly, I have looked up many of Ekso's patents and to me the physics is remarkable comparatively to the industry. I think when the US military's version of 'Iron Man' comes knocking on the door of our enemies, it will be a spectacle for everyone. Presently T.A.L.O.S. is about to reach it's fourth phase regarding contracting of the project, which is a 56 company collaboration. While many other companies will likely only have temporarily involvement (installing heart rate sensors and such), I am projecting Ekso will be integral through out all the T.A.L.O.S. contracting phases.
Offsetting this, there are a few things I don't like about the company. They aren't wonderful at communication. Their YouTube videos hardly get any views. Worse, they recently diluted shares with the recent direct acquisition. This has definitely dragged the price down in the short term. They also had said that they expect some sort of sales agreement for their construction suit, the Ekso Works, before the end of 2015 which clearly has not happened or has been delayed. Lastly the Veteran's Association recently just agreed to purchase units from a cheaper competitor at their spinal rehabilitation centers. While this would seem to be the end of the story, I think the fact Ekso Bionics is able to treat patients with a spinal cord injury at a higher vertebrae injury level may save them a spot at the V.A. yet.
Many things set Ekso apart for rehabilitation:
They are developing the very first rehabilitation exoskeleton for children with grants from the National Institute of Health. I suspect many children's hospitals will buy these, furthermore little kids are going to love it. It seems very simple to put a cool looking shell over outside to turn them into a 'iron' superhero.
Ekso collects the most data feedback because it's collecting data transmission through cellular networks with every step. It is my understanding that most competitors give much less feedback data. While it does add on cost to each device, the amount of data collected with over 32 million steps taken may be very helpful in receiving FDA clearance which would be huge.
SoldierStrong is a charity organization that has agreed to buy 80 Ekso Bionic GT's. As of January 4th of this year, they have bought 10 of these so far. This is a guaranteed source of revenue to continue in my eyes.
And looking further into the future, Ekso is the first Exoskeleton being used and tested with 'epidural electrostimulation'. This basically meaning they are delivering shocks to the persons back with an electrode simply touching their skin on their directly along their spine. The hope is that by shocking their spine in the right place at the right time while their brain is engaged in the walking pattern that it will help retrain and regrow nerves in both the spine and in the brain. To take a reference from the science fiction game StarCraft, it is the modern day, 'stim pack'. I'm not sure it's not without coincidence that SoldierStrong has a board member involved in a company involved in very similar 'stim' technology. Here's where UCLA comes in, they have a team that basically puts patients in a hanging brace, and then delivers electrostimulation to them while the hanging support is automatically being swung so that the limb is moving around with some limited range of motion. They realized that they had a partial success in that they could activate the paralyzed person's muscles to give a tiny bit of effort so that the swinging became exaggerated, but it was very difficult for them time shocks correctly and to move the patients legs in a perfect walking pattern. From what I saw, the UCLA team's motion appeared to be like that of peddling a bike, but without bending the knee very high. Ekso would seem to be the perfect fit in researching with this group, as they have. It gives the electrostimulation team to chance to have the paralyzed patient already in the perfect form. The nerves experience almost exactly what they were used to doing while walking and in a controlled method. Using exactly this technique, they have since had a paralyzed patient get one step closer to regaining muscle control. Mark Pollock received this combined therapy and then they did a test on him after he got out of the suit. They asked him to move his leg, and he still could not do it, so he wasn't fully cured. However then they turned on the electrostimulation he had been training with while in the Ekso GT and he was then able to bend his leg. Search google for 'UCLA paralyzed' to view the video yourself. I believe this to be the very closest humanity has ever gotten to treat paralysis. Even if new drugs come along that help to regrow nerves, my guess is exoskeleton training will still be necessary for a long time to come.