Unitree has a rapid start to the Shanghai stock exchange

The Chinese robot manufacturer Unitree has had a rapid start to the stock market. The shares opened in the morning on the technology-heavy Star stock exchange in Shanghai at around 1,100 yuan, 629 percent above the issue price of 150.80 yuan. The price gave up some of its gains in morning trading, but the recent increase was still around 500 percent.

Unitree is the first humanoid robot manufacturer to list on a stock exchange in mainland China and the world's largest provider by revenue. The company was founded in Hangzhou, eastern China, in 2016. It became famous with four-legged robot dogs and human-like robots that run, dance or show martial arts moves.

At the opening price, Unitree was valued at the equivalent of around 57 billion euros. The online tranche initially intended for private investors was oversubscribed by more than 8,000 times. The company raised the equivalent of around 780 million euros from the IPO.

The billion-dollar valuation exceeds previous business figures many times over: sales more than quadrupled to 1.7 billion yuan (around 218 million euros) in 2025. Reported net profit was 278 million yuan.

According to its own information, Unitree delivered more than 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025. However, the widespread commercial use of such machines is still in its infancy.

However, investors are optimistic about the sector's growth prospects. Kieron Poon, investment director for Asian equities at Aberdeen, told the Financial Times: "We are positive on humanoids."

At the same time, there is a question mark over the export prospects: the US Federal Communications Commission banned the import of humanoid robots last month. This measure is intended to primarily affect Chinese products such as those from Unitree.

Unitree's initial listing is the second sensational debut of a Chinese company in just a few weeks, after the share price of chip manufacturer CXMT temporarily increased six-fold. There have been particularly strong price gains recently for hardware and AI companies in areas such as semiconductors and robotics, which Beijing specifically promotes. China wants to reduce technological dependencies on foreign countries and build new growth engines.