Shares in humanoid robot firm Unitree surge 600% on Chinese stock market debut
Shares in Unitree, the world's biggest humanoid robot maker, soared more than 600% on their debut on China's stock market, before settling back to a gain of nearly 500%. The listing highlights intense investor appetite for robotics firms, an area seen as central to the AI race, as China's Yushu Technology Co (Unitree's official name) becomes one of only a handful of listed humanoid robot manufacturers worldwide.
Unitree's shares rose to as high as 1,100 yuan (£120.39), up from an IPO price of 150.8 yuan, with retail investor demand oversubscribed by thousands. Founded in 2016, the company shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots last year and has become globally known through viral videos of its robots performing martial arts and dancing for pop stars; its listing coincided with the World Robot Conference opening in Beijing. Chief executive Wang Xingxing's roughly 20% stake is now worth over $12bn on paper, while analysts forecast the humanoid robot market could grow from $2bn in 2025 to $300bn by 2035. The firm, backed by Tencent and Alibaba, has faced US scrutiny, including an FCC import ban and a Pentagon listing citing links to China's defence industry, which Unitree disputes.
- Unitree shares jumped over 600% on Chinese stock market debut
- CEO Wang Xingxing's stake now worth more than $12bn on paper
- US has banned imports and flagged Unitree over defence links
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Unitree is a Chinese company that makes humanoid robots – machines built to move and act in ways similar to a person, some of which have gone viral online for performing tricks such as martial arts moves or dancing. It was founded in 2016 and, under chief executive Wang Xingxing, has grown into the world's largest maker of these robots, shipping thousands of units in the past year alone.
The company has just listed its shares on China's stock market for the first time, an event known as an initial public offering, or IPO. This lets ordinary investors buy a stake in the business, and in Unitree's case demand was extremely high, reflecting broader excitement about robotics and artificial intelligence as fast-growing areas of technology.
The listing matters because it puts a market value on one of the few publicly traded humanoid robot makers anywhere in the world, at a time when investors are trying to work out how big this industry could become. Unitree also has connections to major Chinese tech firms and has drawn attention from US authorities over national security concerns, adding a geopolitical dimension to its rapid growth.
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